The Dark Lessons
by Sammy23.4
Summary: If Albus Potter can survive his final miserable year at Hogwarts, he can leave the wizarding world behind forever. There is just one problem. Hogwarts has a new resident this year and she intends to teach Albus some very dark lessons.
1. Exit Stage Albus

**FEBUARY 2** **nd** **1998 – Calcott. North of Canterbury.**

The Buzzing from the WWN wasn't very loud but farmhouse was so small, it echoed throughout. The tiny fireplace, that was big enough to hold maybe two logs at best was nevertheless warming the whole place. The two-floor house was probably built back in the eighteen hundred and was surrounded by aches of wheat and barley fields. It looked truly lonesome and isolated during the day, but now, at night, it looked downright eerie.

There was only one occupant of the house. A man in is early twenties, but with the wisdom of someone twice his age. He had seen things. He had done things. Things most people wouldn't entertain in their worst nightmares.

But that's the thing about war. Imagination just isn't enough.

You have to see it.

And now, here, this was whole different kind of war. But one he intended to fight.

He was hunched over the hissing device, using a pair of pliers to fiddle around with the back of it. Nothing but a few scraps of paper, tools and an ashtray were sitting on the desk around him.

 _"…_ _before we hear from Royal and Romulus, let's take a moment to report those deaths that the_

 _Wizarding Wireless Network News and Daily Prophet don't think important enough to mention…"_

The man snorted with contempt.

"Royal and Romulus?" he said with an angry laugh to the wireless. "Would that be Kingsley Shackleboth and Remus Lupin by chance? God, you people are shit at code names!"

 _"_ _Meanwhile, in Gaddley, a Muggle family of five has been found dead in their home. Muggle authorities are attributing the deaths to a gas leak, but members of the Order of the Phoenix…"_

Sick bastards! Murdering defenceless families, just because they could. He had seen much of the atrocities of war and it proved that many times, muggles were no different from Death Eaters, sometimes worse. But, still, their history was made up of incredible struggles and conflicts with good triumphing over evil.

In World War II it was the Nazi's and the Japanese Empire against British, French, Belgium, American, Canadian, Australian and more, all united to fight against them. Hell, even members of Hilter's own Reich tried to assassinate him. Where was that in the wizarding world?

Where was the united front against Voldemort? Nowhere.

The Ministry had fallen and everyone else was too afraid to fight. No foreign allies were coming. Now great leaders like Churchill and Roosevelt had risen to the challenge. There was nothing but a crumbling resistance known as the Order of the Phoenix.

 _"'_ _The Boy Who Lived' remains a symbol of everything for which we are fighting for: The triumph of good, the power of innocence, the need to keep resisting."_ Lupin said from the wireless.

"The power of innocence? I thought you were a teacher? Try teaching them something real. Innocence is only powerful when there is peace!" he yelled at the wireless but didn't stop his tinkering. He was almost done.

 _"…_ _supporters against following Hagrid's lead. 'Support Harry Potter' parties are unwise in the present climate."_

"Yeah, and where is your saviour now?!" he barked. "Nobodies seen him in months, not since he did a runner from the Ministry!"

It was absurd. 'Chosen one' or not, expecting a seventeen-year-old kid to show up and save the day. No, one way or another, this was going to end in a fight. A big bloody, brutal fight and there would be a lot of corpses littering the ground before it was done.

The man stood back from the wireless. His work was done. He pulled a pack of cigarettes of his pocket and lit one. One thing was missing though. He looked around the table the wireless sat on a quickly found what he was after. He grabbed a pencil and scribbled a single word on a piece of paper and then stuck it to the back of the wireless.

Muggle-borns were being hunted like game. Muggles were being slaughtered like cattle, and as for squibs like him, well, no one even talked about them.

Whatever Harry Potter was doing, it sure as hell wasn't making a difference right now. But he knew ways to fight. Ways the wizarding world didn't seem to understand.

He took one more lung full of the cigarette before placing it carefully in the ashtray, making sure that it pointed directly at the wireless.

He headed towards the door of the farmhouse, opened it, then paused as the threshold.

Taking a breath, he cleared his throat then spoke out loud. "Voldemort!"

He rushed out of the farmhouse, shutting the door as he went and dashed into the wheat fields beyond.

There was barely ten seconds before the tell tale _cracks!_ began.

Five Death Eaters disapperated on different sides of the farmhouse and quickly closed in towards the door. Black cloaks and silver masked shone in the small light coming from the windows. One of them raised their wand to the keyhole of the door but lowered it when he realized it wasn't locked. They entered without hesitation.

Inside, only the crackling fire and music coming from the wireless muffled out the Death Eaters footsteps. They began searching the house. One of them noticed the cigarette, still burning in the ashtray.

"Somebodies here," he growled and the others started smashing the place up, as if it would reveal someone hiding.

The same Death Eater turned to the wireless. It was pretty clearly the only wizarding object in the house. Then he noticed a piece of paper stuck to the back of it. He reached for it, turning it around. It said only one word.

 _Hungry?_

BOOM!

The entire farmhouse exploded, killing the Death Eaters instantly and reducing the structure to nothing but tiny pieces of broken brick.

From the field the man watched. Smiling.

 **August 27** **th** **2024**

London. The Big Smoke. Crown dung heap of the UK. An ever-convulsing metropolis of eight million people from every walk of life imaginable. Glittering towers of glass and steel housed the highest of the high class while drug dens and alleyways contained the lowest forms of criminal scum. And Albus Severus Potter loved every inch of it.

London couldn't really be called a city at all. It was more like another planet. Maybe even Albus's home planet. It certainly felt that way sometimes. He was more at home here than anywhere in the wizarding world. It wasn't surprising really.

If he had a lightning bolt scar and had to wear glasses then he may well have been his father's clone. He was the only one in the family to inherit Lily Evans famous piercing green eyes. He was almost the same height, had the same untameable black hair. Even his voice sounded the same. But all of that was superficial. Their similarities were skin deep only.

The truth was that in many ways, Albus was Harry Potters polar opposite. Harry had grown up in a miserable, lonely muggle house, half-starved and tormented often. When a gigantic hairy and kind Rubius Hagrid had arrived to tell Harry that not only was he a wizard but that he would soon be leaving that horrible place, nothing had made him happier. At Hogwarts, Harry had found the world he truly belonged in and he had longed for that day he'd be able to leave the muggle world behind forever.

Once he had defeated a certain Dark Lord of course.

Albus, on the other hand, had grown up in a truly wonderous, loving environment. Well feed and cared for since the day he was born (No wonder he was a lot bulkier than his father). But when he had arrived at Hogwarts, everything had changed. Hogwarts was not the site of incredible wizarding education and adventure that it has been for his parents. It was the place of Albus' pain and misery. Because, on the day he had arrived, the sorting hat had been placed on his head and in that moment, he stunned the entire wizarding world by becoming the first Potter in the history of the blood line to be placed in Slytherin.

Combined with the friendship he had struck up with the most unlikely person in the world, Scorpius Malfoy, Albus first year at Hogwarts soon became a nightmare. The teachers and students watched as he failed to show even a hint of his parent's talent in magic, flying or incredible and dangerous adventures.

He and Scorpius became the best targets for bullying and hatred and Albus was given the new nickname of 'The Slytherin Squib'.

It wasn't until his fourth year that everything changed. He had tried to be more like his parents. He and Scorpius had set off on their own adventure and the horrific consequences had changed them both forever. In the two years that followed, Albus had turned inwards. His thoughts and feelings guarded more closely than ever. Scorpius remaining the one person in the world he could confide in.

Now, as he sat looking out at the murky River Thames, he couldn't help feeling a small sense of relief. His seventh and final year at Hogwarts would be starting in one week. One more year is all he had to endure. He would turn seventeen on January seventh and would no longer need his parent's permission to do anything. He would have full access to his Gringott's vault. He would be his own man.

He stayed on that bench, looking out at the London skyline, drinking it in one more time before he would return to his home. One year from now he would be free.

And then he would leave quietly and never return.

…..

The Sun had almost set when Albus walked through the front door of the Potter home. It was a large but modest house in Kensal Green. Comfortable enough for a family of six or seven even though there were only five Potters. Of course, Teddy Lupin had more or less lived with them when not staying at his Grandmothers so maybe six. It was far more modern than the rustic aesthetic of the Burrow but still had some of the same homely features. Pots and plates were scrubbing themselves clean in the sink and Kreacher, the ancient but still spritely house elf was scurrying around the place keeping everything tidy.

"I think it's conspiracy, don't you, Fred?" James Sirius Potters indignant voice said.

"Definitely. A Ministry plot against us!" Of course, George Weasley's son would be there as well. James and Fred had been attached at the hip ever since they'd started at Hogwarts together.

Albus sighed to himself and decided he might as well find out what was going on. After kicking off his shoes he headed for the lounge where the voices were coming from.

"Don't be such a drama queen, James," Ginny's slightly annoyed voice said just before he got there.

James and Fred were standing together and seemed to be accusing none other than the Minister for Magic herself, Hermione Granger-Weasley. She had her usual patient but slightly exasperated look, with her hands on her hips and her chin up. She was still dressed in her fine pinstriped Ministry skirt and jacket and looked like she definitely hadn't finished work for the day. Harry was next to her already lazing in his favourite armchair. He hadn't bothered to take off his Dragonhide trench coat yet and looked like he simply wanted to rest his weary legs for a bit. Ginny was walking over to them levitating two mugs of tea with her wand one of which drifted into Hermione's hand while the other plonked itself next to Harry.

Albus stopped, leaned against the door frame and decided to just watch for the moment. No one had noticed him yet.

"I'm being serious Mum, I know I could have gotten better NEWT results and me a Fred think we should go back this year and repeat them!" James said. He was taller than everyone in the room except Fred. They both had same lanky build as Harry but James's hair was slightly lighter and he had Ginny's brown eyes.

"Yes, I'm sure _that_ 's why you want to go back to Hogwarts," Hermione said dryly.

"I thought you'd be encouraging us," Fred said accusingly. He was a spitting image of the man he was named after. Tall, ginger and full of freckles.

"If I thought it really was about getting better results, I would, but we both know why you really want to go back and it's not going to happen," she stated.

"Why do you want to go back?" Albus asked causing everyone in the room to finally notice him.

"You were supposed to be back an hour ago," Ginny said crossly.

"Train was delayed," he said. These days Albus could lie with such ease that even a sneakascope was useless around him.

"Freddie and I are trying to broaden the prospects of our futures and the Ministry is trying to stop us!" James said dramatically.

"I thought you were trying out for the Tornado's next month?" Albus asked with an eyebrow raised.

"We could do that next year," Fred shrugged.

"James, you're not going back to Hogwarts just so you can meet the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," Harry groaned getting bored of the conversation.

"Has Professor Bayem had the baby then?" Albus asked. Professor Klara Bayem had been the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for the last four years. She was kind and understanding but nevertheless drove her classes to work incredibly hard. The news that she was pregnant had come out shortly after the new year which meant she was have to take maternity leave before the next school year started. There had been a lot of speculation about who would be filling the post for the year.

"Not yet, another week or two," Hermione said.

"I thought you got that French guy from Beauxbatons to cover her for the year?"

"We did, unfortunately, Professor LeBrau had a bit of a cauldron accident," Harry sighed.

"Is he alright?"

"Well…mostly. The explosion didn't actually cause that much damage, unfortunately, he inhaled a lot of the fumes. St. Mungo's has cleaned up his burn marks, now if they could just stop the fructose plants from growing out of his ears, he'll good as new," Hermione explained. "We had to find a last-minute replacement for him though."

"It's not fair!" James whined.

"Would you rather Hogwarts didn't have DADA teacher this year?" Hermione huffed.

"Who's the replacement?" Albus asked.

"Alexandria bloody Bonde!" Fred said looking dreamy.

That certainly explained it. James and Fred had pretty much ruled Hogwarts while they were there but nevertheless, they were excited about leaving to pursue professional Quidditch careers. And in their eyes, there was only one thing that measured up to Quidditch. Women.

"Name rings bell," Albus said.

"Rings a bell?!" James suddenly tackled his brother, pulling him into a headlock and ruffling his hair. "I know you're the most antisocial person in the UK Albus, but read the bloody paper occasionally!"

"James, get off him," Ginny groaned for what must have been the twenty-second thousandth time.

He let go and Albus pushed him away, putting some distance between them. His brother was difficult to tolerate at the best of times but when he was excited about something, it got so much worse.

"She's only the duelling champion of the wizarding world!" James declared. "And voted sexiest athlete three months in a row by Witch Weekly!"

"You read Witch Weekly?" Ginny ask with her eyebrows raised.

"Only for the pictures," James grinned.

Albus nodded without enthusiasm. Defence Against the Dark Arts was easily the subject he failed at most of all, followed closely by Transfiguration and Charms. But he could see why James and Fred were acting like overly excited Labradors. A woman and a famous athlete. What more could they want?

"But isn't she really young?" Albus said trying to remember what he had read when he'd last skimmed over the Daily Prophet.

"She's twenty-two. Right in my age bracket," James winked.

"We were a little bit concerned about her age, but after her performance in the final…well, no one can say that she doesn't know what she's doing. And using a Patronus to defeat Mikael Blomfist! Ingenious!" Hermione said excitedly. "It's never been done before!"

"Wish I had known that a Patronus could do that," Harry agreed.

"How did she win?" Albus asked despite feeling uncomfortable. Harry was well known for his Stag Patronus that he had mastered way younger than anyone else at Hogwarts. Albus, on the other hand, had never been able to produce one and probably never would.

"She commanded it to fly around him so fast that the vapor basically obscured his vision. Then she nailed him with a stunner," Harry grinned. "Wish I could have watched that fight. They said she was disapparating so quickly it was like she was everywhere at once. I've gotta remember to book tickets for next year's final."

"I'm glad Klara was able to convince her to do it," Ginny said. "You wouldn't want someone underqualified."

"I thought you asked her to teach?" Fred asked Hermione looking confused.

"Of course, I didn't. And I couldn't. I'm the British Minister. Alexandria Bonde, or Professor Bonde rather, is Swedish."

"Professor Bayem is Swedish as well!" James exclaimed suddenly caught on.

"Brilliant James," Albus dolled with enough sarcasm to paint the walls. "Why you didn't want to become an Auror, I'll never know."

"Least I could have been an Auror!" James spat. "What would you fight a dark wizard with? Numerology? It's one of the only subjects you passed isn't it?"

"And it's one of the ones you failed," Albus quipped. "Never mind James, maybe numbers just aren't your thing. We could always have a spelling contest."

James reached for his wand.

"Don't even think about it!" Harry warned.

James let his hand go loose. "Come on Fred, let's go to the shop. Maybe we can still meet her during one of the Hogsmead weekends."

He shot Albus one more ugly look before leaving the room. They heard the tell-tale crack of a disapparation a few seconds later.

"I've got to get back to the Ministry and finalize the change in staffing with Headmaster Torrens. Thanks for the tea, Gin," Hermione said using her wand to send her cup to the kitchen sink. "If I don't see you before, I'll try to get here early on Sunday for the party. It's going to be so wonderful!"

It was one of those very rare moments when Hermione reverted back to an excitable little girl before realizing she was supposed to be conducting herself with the dignity and confidence of a Minister. "I still can't believe Teddy is getting married!"

"We've known this was coming for a long time," Harry chuckled.

"I know, I know, but still," she gave one more squeak of excitement before disappearing on the spot. Now that it was just the three of them, Albus knew his reprimand was coming.

"Why do you two always have to antagonize each other?" Ginny asked crossly.

"Because we're related? Although James would never admit that," Albus scowled.

"I know your brother can be a bit of a handful at times, especially when it concerns Quidditch but…" Harry tried but was interrupted.

"Don't worry, dad. I have my own method of trying to teach James some humility," he said pulling a small brown object from his pocket, throwing it in the air and catching.

"Wait! Is that – Is that James's wallet?!"

"Yes. I pickpocket him when he's being annoying," Albus remarked as if it was a completely natural thing to do. Well…natural for a Slytherin.

 _Crack!_

" _Gimmi back my wallet you little_ –"

"James! Put that wand down!"


	2. Whiskey and Ravenclaws

Even with his headphones in, Albus had heard the bang of the door shutting over a dozen times now. All of the guests for Teddy Lupin and Victoire Weasley's engagement party must have arrived and it would soon be time for him to join them. Unfortunately, that also meant that he would have to endure some pretty awful wizarding music so he decided to stay in his room a few minutes longer until _Joe Cocker's_ rendition of _Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood_ had finished.

He had saved his pocket money for two months in order to buy the shoddy, second hand, old model iPod that held thirty-two gigabytes of data. And it had been a hell of a job creating his twelve thousand strong song collection since wizarding environments didn't have WIFI. But his frequent escapes to the Big Smoke had allowed him to create several playlists that he was very proud of.

He checked his appearance in the mirror quickly (the hair never cooperated) and proceeded downstairs wearing a pair of blue jeans and white linen shirt. Laughter, cheers and two dozen different loud conversations were practically rattling the house. The smell of fire whisky, oak matured mead, butterbeer and champagne had all mixed together to create a very pungent aroma that was assaulting Albus's senses.

"A drink for master Albus?" croaked a voice by his knee. Kreacher was there holding a silver tray with several different drinks on it. Albus scooped up a bottle of mead which immediately uncorked itself for him.

"Thanks, Kreacher. Are you having a drink?"

"Kreacher must stay focused and alert to make sure all guests are tended to," he said giving a small bow.

"It's a celebration. You can have a thimble of butterbeer or something can't you?" Albus assured.

Kreacher looked slightly uncomfortable and quickly darted off into the lounge. Butterbeer and house elves didn't mix. Albus followed him to where the party was in full swing.

A great banner had been pulled across the back wall saying: _CONGRATULATIONS TEDDY AND VICTORIE_ which occasionally let off miniature fireworks. As expected, the Wizarding Wireless Network was on and pumping out a terrible Wicked Sisters song. Albus cringed when he heard it. In his mind, music was one of the things that muggles would always be better at than wizards. Although it certainly wasn't the only thing. After the terrible events of his forth year, Albus had been slowly but surely moving away from the wizarding world and embracing the muggle world instead and more he did, the more he loved it.

Films, TV shows, the natural history museum, the London eye, the planetarium and many more muggle inventions were quickly replacing his thrill of watching Quidditch or playing exploding snap. But this day was about Teddy and Victoire and he was determined to be happy for them and enjoy himself.

As he surveyed the crowd of people he saw many familiar faces. Uncle George, the one-eared and richest Weasley for five generations stood talking to Ron and Percy with his wife Angeline and their daughter Roxanne standing close-by. Hugo Weasley or 'Teeny-Ron' as James called him, was talking to ten-year-old Louis Weasley about Hogwarts. Albus' younger sister Lily was in a rapped conversation about wedding dresses with the lady of the hour, Victoire.

She was always a sight to behold. Long platinum and slightly curly hair flowed over her shoulders and seemed to be giving off the same shine the moonlight did. Her beautiful pale face was punctuated by her pink cheeks and she was smiling gleefully at everything Lily was saying. Rose hurried up to them with three glasses of bubbly but seemed to give Lily a quick warning before handing her the glass. Rose was every bit of her mother and father combined. Her hair was a slightly darker red than Ron's but had the same wild bushiness that her mothers did at that age. She had tamed it into delicate bun for the party and was wearing a pale blue dress that worked very well with her eyes. Like her mother, she was nothing short of a genius but also had a huge affinity for Quidditch and would no doubt be playing chaser for the sixth year running soon.

Albus rolled his eyes as he spotted what she had pinned to her dress. Her head girl badge. To be fair, she had worked very hard to get it, but nevertheless, three days after it had arrived, she was still showing everyone she possibly could.

He finally spotted Teddy who had graciously decided not to turn his hair vomit green or luminous yellow for the party and instead was keeping it a casual shade of light brown. He stood talking to his Godfather Harry and the Minister. Just next to them were two people that brought a smile to Albus' face.

His cousin, Victoire Weasley's younger sister Dominique and her best friend Melissa were chatting away to none other than Kingsley Shacklebolt. The former Minister looked like he hadn't aged a day since the Battle of Hogwarts. He was still tall, bald and intimidating but gave off and aura of control and safety. He laughed heartily at something Dominique said before talking a sip of his champagne.

Dominique Weasley was in the same year as Albus and had been sorted into Ravenclaw. Only her eyes and beautiful smile would say that she was Victoire's sister because she was a good few inches shorter and had very light brown hair instead of blond. But if anyone that the party could grab people's attention as well as Victoire could, it was Melissa.

If Albus could describe Melissa Barker in one word, it would probably be… _whoa._ To know what kind of person she was you only had to look at her self-made tank top that said: _Muggleborn to be wild!_ And had a picture of a half-naked witch riding a giant phoenix on it with a wand in one hand and a battle-axe in the other. Melissa was indeed muggleborn, a fact which she claimed meant she was therefore the best of both worlds and possibly the next stage of human evolution. Her mother ran a very high-class auction house in the city and her father was quite a famous radio DJ for the BBC. This meant that no only was she rich, but was also smart and kind of fearless. She also loved music just as much as Albus so that got along very well.

If her tank top and her ripped black jeans wasn't enough, her hair did the trick. She had been showing up to Hogwarts with a new and weird style every year since she was fourteen, mainly because she could afford to go to the kind of stylists that usually catered to movies star. The sides of her coal black hair had been platted while the rest was left loose until it fell into a single great braid at her back that was tied with silver bangles. She looked like a Viking.

Albus began moving towards them but stopped when he heard a very familiar voice say "Glad you could join us, Mr. Potter."

He turned to see none other than Minerva McGonagall, former Headmistress of Hogwarts and one of the very few people that knew what had happened to Albus and Scorpius during their fourth year. She had a smile knowing smile on her lips.

"Good to see you, Professor. How's retirement?" Albus said brightly.

"A great deal less stressful than managing six hundred students I don't mind saying," she said.

"Ahh, so definitely no chance of convincing you to come back then, Minerva?"

Albus looked left to see Professor Neville Longbottom had joined them. Albus still had trouble believing that the tall, slightly grizzled looking man next to him was also the plump, pathetic looking boy he'd seen in pictures. And he had cut the head off Voldemort's snake which was just plain awesome.

"Sorry Professor, but I've served my time attempting to stop students from giving into their trouble making impulses," she said glancing over at James and Fred who were trying to chat up some of Victories attractive friends. "That mantle falls to you now."

"Trouble is something I try to actively avoid these days," Albus said unable to keep the darkness out of his voice.

"Very wise of you Mr. Potter. Neville was just telling me that your marks in many subjects have improved a great deal," she smiled, clearly trying to steer his mind off what she knew he was thinking about.

"And gotten worse in many others," he said simply. Neville looked a little uncomfortable.

"Talent doesn't always show itself in ways we would like or expect, but that doesn't mean it isn't there," she said kindly.

"And other times it really does. Just look at Victoire. Was there ever any doubt that she was going to be a model?" Albus laughed trying to lighten up.

"I thought she was working in the department of international cooperation?" Neville asked looking slightly confused.

"She also models," Albus shrugged.

"Fair enough. I should go and give my congratulations. I've got to head back to Hogwarts soon. Busy day tomorrow," he said and began moving towards the happy couple.

"Don't let the past ruin your future, Albus," McGonagall whispered to him once Neville was far enough away. "None of us want that for you." She patted him gently on the back and then walked over to speak to Hermione.

Albus took a breath and steadied his thoughts, pushing the dark memories back into vault he kept them in. The vault he had created inside his mind for all the things, good and bad that needed to stay locked up, away from everyone else. There was no way he was going to be glum for this party. He walked over to Dom and Melissa with a smile on his face.

"Hey Al," Dom said happily.

"Hi. You look great," he said admiring the leather pant and jacket she was wearing. Dominique could have done some modelling of her own. He turned to Melissa. "You look…insane. But in a good way," he grinned.

"You like it?" she smiled radiantly while lightly touching her hair. "Only took four hours! Cost three hundred quid though."

"I think you could have gotten a tattoo instead," he laughed.

"I am! As soon as I turn eighteen, I'm getting a full sleeve done! I've already told dad!" she said excitedly.

"And your mum?"

"She doesn't need to know just yet," Melissa shrugged. "I'm bringing some of the designs I'm working on to Hogwarts so I'll be able to show you tomorrow."

Tomorrow. Was the Hogwarts express really only about fifteen hours away?

"I look forward to it," he said. He genuinely meant it too, not just because Melissa was a terrific artist but because body art was another part of the muggle world that Albus had come to appreciate.

"We gonna share a cabin then? You know I can go to Hogwarts without my music fix."

"Definitely. It's our last chance to listen to some real music for about three months. No way am I missing it!"

"Oh, come on," Dom sighed. "Wizarding music isn't that bad."

"See, this is why I need to take you to Glastonbury with me! You need to experience muggle music live. It'll change your life," she said in all seriousness. "We'll do it next year!"

"You know I want too but…would we really have to stay in a muddy tent? I've heard it's filthy there."

"It adds to the charm."

Someone whistled very loudly from across the lounge grabbing everyone's attention. "Can I have your attention please!" Harry shouted. People moved and parted to get a better view of Harry who was now standing on a footstool.

"First of all, we like to thank you all for coming. We're all here to give our best to Teddy and Victoire both of whom are only at the beginning of their wonderful partnership," he said to a round of heavy applause. "However, no engagement would be complete, I know mine certainly wasn't, without all of us taking the time to embarrass Teddy as much as we can by retelling the story of how he met his lovely wife to be."

The crowd laughed and clapped while Teddy, who was now holding his fiancés hand, just shook his head and grinned. A few wand waves later and chairs had appeared all over the living room, usually right behind where people were standing. Everyone took their seats except for Teddy and Victoire who had been left chair-less, probably on purpose.

"To begin, we need to talk to someone who witnessed first had, the blossoming of romance between these two," Harry said indicating the happy couple who were both blushing. "So, Minerva, if you wouldn't mind?"

The crowd clapped and cheered as the former head mistress took the stage.

"Well," she sighed, "the story of Teddy Remus Lupin and Victoire Weasley or as I like to call it 'the beginning of the end of my career'," everyone chuckled. "Did not begin, in fact, until two thousand thirteen when the soon-to-be Mrs. Weasley began a relationship with a young man named Tomus Ciril…"

"Oh, God…" Victoire cried and covered her face with her hands while Teddy started laughing.

"…A young man whom was actually proud that he was once able to accidently transfigure his own toes into piano keys. Nevertheless, this produced in Mr. Lupin a fierce jealousy and as Pomona will tell you…" she gestured to the sofa where another retired Hogwarts Professor sat with Bill and Fleur Weasley. She was also the former head of Hufflepuff house where Teddy had been sorted. "What followed was more house points being deducted from Hufflepuff than ever before.

"Pomona, I honestly cannot blame you retiring, but why in Merlin's name would you leave me to deal with this all by myself?!" she said indignantly while Professor Sprout tried not to laugh. "Almost every other day one or the other of them was in the hospital wing suffering from curses, jinxes, hexes or just blunders of their own makings as the two of them battled for Victories attention. And on some occasions, the rest of the school was pulled into it as well. Let's not forget the hail storm inside the Great Hall when Mr. Lupin attempted to charm the ceiling into spelling out a love letter. Or when Gryffindor Tower was turned into a veritable rain forest by Mr. Ciril's every-growing bouquet of wild flowers. Eventually, Mr. Lupin realized that perhaps, just maybe, he was going the wrong way about winning young Victories heart and decided to stop…I'm sure the thirty-nine detentions had nothing to do with it…"

The steady laugher throughout the room wasn't dying down and Teddy was now looking like he wanted to just bolt from the room.

"Mr. Ciril, however, did not give up which unfortunately led to a certain incident involving the girl's prefect bathroom, which Victoire happened to be using at the time…"

"No, no, no, no, please, no, no," Victoire, who had turned completely maroon in colour and had tears of laughter in her eyes begged.

"Well, we don't really need to go into it. Needless to say, Victoire became disenchanted with Mr. Ciril after that and decided it was time to give Mr. Lupin his chance. And I'm glad to say that no one has ever attempted to mix love potion and bubble bath together since. And a few short, or in my case long, very long, so terribly long years with the newest members of the Potter family later, and here we are."

"Hey! This isn't my engagement party, no, no, keep embarrassing Teddy!" James shouted.

"As Professor Dumbledore once said, nothing can drive people to madness nor bring them together so greatly as love. With that in mind, I and all who know wish you both the very best and a long, happy marriage…let's just hope the madness has passed," McGonagall finished raising her glass in a toast.

"To Teddy and Victoire Lupin," she announced and everyone in the room followed suit, clinking glasses and cheering the happy couple. Soon after the party went back into full swing with guest mingling and chatting to each other about everything that was happening in the wizarding world. A lot of it was concerning the new DADA teacher.

"As if any of the male students will be able to concentrate with her in the class. It's like asking a Veela to give a seminar," said a grumpy old Auror that worked for Harry, standing just behind Albus.

"Calm down, Dawlish. She's the duelling champion of the wizarding world," said Ernie Macmillan, another Auror. "She could probably take on our whole department and win. Who better to teach defence?"

Since Albus rarely paid attention to the Daily Prophet (even though his mother worked for the paper) he couldn't recall seeing a picture of Alexandria Bonde. He made a mental note to try and find one in the morning.

"So, what _does_ happen when you mix love potion and bubble bath?" Melissa asked with a bit of a slur.

"I only know what happened to my sister. Apparently, they had to use a sticking charm to stop her from taking her clothes off and it took three days for her to stop signing opera music," Dom shrugged. "Drove Madam Pomphrey up the wall."

Melissa gave a little drunken giggle before going off to find another drink. Albus wondered around the room, occasionally stopping to chat. He bid Neville Farwell who departed early. It only reminded Albus that tomorrow he would be on the Hogwarts express heading towards his last year at the castle that had brought him nothing but pain. Still, it also meant he be seeing Scorpius again. He had already spent two weeks of the holidays at the Malfoy house which was a lot small than the old manor but no less grand and although he didn't seem to mind, Albus sometimes felt as if he was impeding of Draco's time with his son. Since Scorpius mother had died, it was just the two of them and although they had never seemed closer, Albus still felt bad for both of them.

"Albus, nah, he's never even kissed and girl…" James's voice suddenly found its way to Albus's ears. He glanced around and spotted him fourteen feet and three inches away, talking to a group of pretty girls. "but I reckon him and Scorpius are…you know."

Albus closed his eyes and fought the urge to throw his drink at James. The _'Albus and Scorpius are a couple'_ thing had been going for years now. True, Albus love Scorpius and would have committed ritual suicide for him if he had to but he wasn't gay. And neither was Scorpius, but apparently it was impossible for the population of Hogwarts to believe that two outcasts could have a friendship without there being anymore to it. Besides, as much as he tried to pretend otherwise, Scorpius was still head over heels for Rose and Albus, well, he was starting to believe that he was going to die a virgin.

While James had loved reaping the rewards of his father's fame, Albus had reaped the wizarding worlds disappointment and no one wanted to date the black sheep of the Potter family.

 _One more year_ he told himself. One more year and he was free of all of this. He would be out in the muggle world where it didn't matter that he couldn't produce a Patronus or stay on a broom for more than twenty seconds without doing himself a serious injury. Out there, he wasn't the son of the 'chosen one' but just Albus.

He was about to retreat back to his room when he saw that Melissa was now trying to talk to Harry and Hermione but seemed to be jumbling her words and swaying heavily on the spot. He moved over to them just in time to catch what she was saying.

"See, coz Wales iz not werwey a country, itz a mammal thatz why iz got flipperz," she mumbled while her eyes seemed to be trying to focus on different things at once.

"Alright, Mel, you need to lie down. You can stay in my room tonight," Dom said trying to urge her friend away from the very disappointed look on Hermione's face.

"I like your room, itss ssmellss nice," she said with a goofy grin.

"Would mistress like to use the floo point?" Kreacher asked appearing next to Dom.

"Ahh!" Melissa shrieked at the top of her lungs and attempted to point at Kreacher, although she seemed to be losing control of her limbs. "It'z a gremlin! Don't get it wet! It'll multipleee!" Unfortunately, at that moment she also sloshed some of her mead on Hermione's skirt.

Hermione looked outraged and was about to vanish the mead with her wand when she suddenly stopped. She reached out a grabbed the cup out of Melissa's swaying hand and gave it a sniff. "You- You didn't! You- Have you been mixing fire whisky with mead?!"

"No, your fired…mead whiskers…." The bones in Melissa's neck seemed to have disappeared because her head was now swaying wildly around.

"Albus, did you know she was doing that? Did you help her?!" Hermione demanded.

Albus couldn't help but smile. "You know, there are nine Ministry workers, four Aurors, two teachers, the former Minister, the current Minister and former Headmistress of Hogwarts in this room. I'm just admiring the fact that she was able to do it right under all your noses…she's got skills," he laughed.

"I'm Batman…" Melissa hiccupped.

Dom gave them all an apologetic look and hurried away with her friend as quickly as her deteriorating legs would carry her.

"Can I have a mogwai…" was the last thing Melissa mumbled before she was escorted out of the room but after she had bumped into three people.


	3. One Last Ride

_2024\. Wave at the future, unless you're in the wizarding world_ Albus thought as he came through the barrier at platform nine and three quarters.

Just outside of King's Cross station there were electric cars, self-driving trucks and zero-emission trains and yet here he was about to board scarlet steam train that bellowed smoke and took seven hours to get to Scotland. Meanwhile the muggles were preparing to go to Mars.

 _One more year._ He repeated over and over in his head as he moved down the platform with the rest of his family. Pushing his trunk on a trolley, he dodged the few hundred-other people that were crowed around the ancient train, keeping his eyes peeled for the head of white blond hair he was looking for.

Teddy, Victorie, Fleur and Bill had come to see Dominque off as almost all families did, no matter how many times their children had made the trip. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione greeted them happily even though they had all seen each other only hours before. Albus watched as first years on the platform gasped and gapped at the heroes of the second wizarding war. At the 'Chosen one' himself. Unfortunately, James and Fred had tagged along as well just on the off chance that Professor Bonde was going to be using the express.

 _It's not too late. I could make a call to King's Cross health and safety. This stupid train would never leave the station._ He had to quash that plan knowing that it wouldn't work because muggles couldn't actually see the train. Albus got bumped aside and Lily and Hugo shot off to talk to some of their Gryffindor friends that they hadn't seen over the holidays. Likewise, Rose let off a shriek of excitement and ran off to talk to a few other members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"I hope you realize how lucky you are," Harry said casually. "We didn't get a seventh year at Hogwarts."

"Nah, we got chased by Death Eaters, almost froze to death in a tent, a bank robbery…oh, remember when you almost got eaten by a snake?" Ron said with his usual sarcasm.

"Good times," Harry grinned.

Finally, the steadily growing gloom that had been building in Albus' stomach abated as he spotted two men standing together further down the platform. Draco Malfoy was still taller than his son, but not by much. Their hair colour was still identical and they had the same high cheek bones and pronounced chin. Scorpius's eyes were a much more vivid ice blue than Draco pale ones though. Albus waved to get their attention and he saw them making their way up the tracks.

"Harry, Minister…Weasley," Draco nodded.

"Draco," Harry returned the curt nod and reached out the shake his hand which Draco did without hesitating.

The hard feelings between them had softened over the last few years. Especially since the events of the Albus and Scorpius' fourth year but they were by no means friends. That was the same reason that Draco and Scorpius, despite being invited, had chosen not to come to the engagement party. Although there was no hostility between them, Teddy still couldn't reconcile the fact that Draco's aunt had murdered his mother and Draco was unwilling to try and push him to. The two were reasonably courteous to each other but always kept a healthy distance.

"Lupin, err, Auror Lupin, congratulations," Draco said stiffly.

"Thank you," Teddy nodded without smiling.

"Good party?" Scorpius asked Albus without a hint of hurt feelings that he couldn't come.

"Yeah, do you know what happens if you mix a love potion with bubble bath?" Albus asked sounding very curious.

"Alright, alright, enough of that," Teddy warned while Victorie blushed.

"Should I know?" Scorpius asked looking interested.

"I better not hear anything about that from your teachers," Harry said sternly.

"Yeah, besides, you two love birds don't need a potion," James said in a disgustingly adoring voice while once again messing up Albus's hair.

"James, leave them alone," Ginny hissed.

"Can you see her? Is she here?" Fred asked. Apparently, he hadn't paying attention to anything that had been said.

"She arrived at Hogwarts by port key this morning," Hermione informed.

"Why didn't you tell us?! We wouldn't have bothered coming!" James and Fred complained.

"Well, then you would have missed your chance to say goodbye to your brother and sister," she smiled.

"Ugh! Bye Lily!" James yelled at the top of his voice startling several other people on the platform. "Bye little brother," he said as if he was talking to a puppy he then banged Albus out the way with his shoulder and the two of them stalked off back to the barrier.

"Charming," Scorpius remarked. Even Ginny was rolling her eyes.

Suddenly something heavy slammed into Albus's back and it seemed as if he had sprouted two new feminine arms from his shoulders when in fact Melissa had collapsed against him. "Why is noise so loud!" she groaned.

"Hi, Melissa. How you feeling?" Albus smiled and moved to better support her weight.

"Like an Erumpent has been dancing on my brain…"

"Well, serves you right," Hermione said crossing her arms and looking very superior. "I hope you've all learned a valuable lesson about why you shouldn't mix alcohols."

"I've learned I can't trust you," Melissa said in a muffled voice. Albus was pretty sure that she was now pressing her face to his jacket and possibly drooling down his back.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I'm an underaged witch. You're the Minister for Magic. You should have stopped me," Melissa's disembodied hand pointed at the train in accusation since she couldn't actually see where Hermione was.

"What?!" the Minister couldn't have looked more outraged if someone had kicked a house elf in front of her.

"I hope you know you've lost yourself a registered voter," Melissa mumbled. It sounded as if she was falling asleep.

"You've got to be seventeen to vote," Scorpius corrected.

"Right. I hope you know that you will have lost yourself a registered voter!" her hand was now pointing at one of the dustbins. Albus moved it slightly to the left so it was pointed at Hermione.

Luckily, before Hermione's steadily reddening face could let loose it's retort the Hogwarts express whistle sounded letting them know it was about to depart.

"Alright, come on. Scorp, could you grab my truck, I've got to carry this one," Albus said nodding to his muggleborn backpack.

"I got it," Draco said with a smile. Apparently, he had found the whole thing very amusing.

Albus held on to Melissa's arms and began dragging her towards the door of the train while the family shouted their goodbyes and well wishes.

"You better be nice to me train or I'm gonna throw up all over you!" Melissa growled still clinging to Albus's back as if she were a wounded soldier.

When Albus, Scorpius, Dom and the half dead Melissa finally found an empty compartment they knew it would be theirs for the rest of the ride. While Dominique and Melissa's popularity hadn't waned since they started spending time will Al and Scorp, it hadn't encouraged others to do so. It was this fact that Albus thought proved that both girls belonged in Ravenclaw. When everyone else had simply been gossiping about why Albus and Scorpius had decided to leap off the Hogwarts Express, Dominique and Melissa had been more focused on the sudden change in the two boys. They never pressed them for details of what had happened but they did decide that it was time to stop distancing themselves from them.

Albus would always love them for that.

As the London cityscape changed to country, Melissa had sprawled herself across the entire seat with her head in Dom's lap and only appeared lucid when she wanted to request a song. Albus had his iPod sat next to him playing _I Want To Break Free_ by _Queen_ on low volume (At Melissa request) while Scorpius gorged himself on Chocolate Frogs and read some of the cards.

" _Alberic Grunnion, Inventor of the Dungbomb_ … _Queen Maeve, this legendary witch trained young sorcerers in Ireland prior to the establishment of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_ … _Morgana Le Fey_ , _King Arthur's half-sister. Dark sorceress. Enemy of Merlin_ …" he said sounding slightly bored. "Do they ever bring out any new ones of these?"

"What you mean besides just about everyone that had anything to do with the second wizarding war?" Albus huffed. Yep, his father was a chocolate frog card. "James is still set on getting himself on one."

"James Sirius Potter, author of _'ten ways to bully your brother'_ and world's biggest muppet," Scorpius said pretending to read another card.

"At least he's not at Hogwarts this year," Albus shrugged.

"It would have been worth it just to see you keep stealing his wallet," Scorpius chuckled.

"Nah, I had to stop after my mum saw me do it," he said reaching into his jacket. "That's why I took his wand instead."

Sure enough, Albus had pulled a twelve-inch, Blackthorn and Unicorn hair wand from his pocket that wasn't his. Scorpius burst into riotous laughter while Dom's eye practically popped out of her head. Melissa tongue fell out of her mouth but that was probably because she had lapsed into a hangover induced coma.

"Albus!"

"Brilliant!"

"I'm Batman!" Melissa snorted as Dom soothingly stroked her head. "Wand theft is a serious crime!" she said sounding a little like Hermione.

"I'm not going to keep it. I just thought I'd deprive him of disapparation for a bit because he was being such a tit at the party," Albus said looking the wand over.

"What was he doing?" Scorpius asked.

"The usual."

"Telling everyone that we're gay?"

Albus nodded stowing the stolen wand back in his pocket.

"Your brother's really not very original," Scorpius shock his head.

"My brother is _not_ a lot of things, but the rest of the world hasn't managed to catch on yet."

"Your mother is going to go ballistic!" Dominique warned. "I bet you anything there will be a howler waiting for you tomorrow morning."

"I'll give it back when he apologises," Albus said solemnly.

"So, you're never gonna give it back?"

"Doesn't seem likely, does it?"

…..

By some miracle, Melissa hadn't thrown up but she probably should have because by the time the Hogwarts express got into Hogsmead village station, she looked like she needed to be wrapped in bandages and laid to rest in a tomb. The train ride had definitely made her worse. She seemed half way between consciousness and requiring an exorcism.

"Firs' Years! This way, chop chop!" Shouted the gargantuan half-giant Hagrid.

Many of the teachers at Hogwarts had struggled with Albus. Trying to treat him as being equal with the rest of the students when he was very clearly their lesser. Hagrid, while a bit wary that he had been sorted into Slytherin, had always been kind to Albus and Scorpius too.

"Hi, Hagrid," Albus waved.

"Lo, Albus. Lo, Scorpius. Oh, Lo Dommy! Sorry I couldn' make it to tha party. How was it?" Hagrid beamed. Dom cringed, she hated that name.

"Not bad. Fun learning about some of the things Teddy got up to while he was here," He grinned.

"Oh, heard bout' tha hail storm, did ya?" Hagrid said looking a bit nervous.

"And the bubble bath," Albus added.

"Err…I err, donno, wha ya talkin' bout'. Firs' years! This way," Hagrid said suddenly becoming sheepish.

"No, No, Mel, you're not a first year, come back," Dom panicked sounding like a mother trying to stop her infant from walking too close to the road.

Melissa, in her zombie like state had indeed waddled off with a bunch of kids that were half her size before slowly turning and being led to the carriages by her friend.

Albus and Scorpius shared a quick but meaningful look. This was the part where they had to pretend that they couldn't see the Thestrals that pulled the carriages to the gates of Hogwarts. They braced themselves and walked ahead looking absently around, even while a few of the other students that could see them for unfortunate but not secretive reasons pointed them out.

Albus had a sudden urge to go to his mind vault and dig out something good from the collection inside. Some good music of a film that he'd really enjoy but he denied himself the impulse. Melissa was in bad shape and Dom might need help taking care of her. For that reason, he ushered Scorp into the same carriage as them.

On the carriage ride to Hogwarts it became clear that Melissa had almost lost the power of speech and also, once again, seemed to be losing the bones in her neck. Whenever they went over a bump she would lurch forward and make a noise that sounded a bit like a bull frog.

As they approached the massive stone entrance to the castle Albus slowed, took a deep breath and growled, "Alright Hogwarts, one more year, do your worst."

He stepped over the threshold and once more, into the castle he loathed.

Waiting for them by the entrance to the Great Hall was the short, goatee sporting Professor Hakkaman, that hailed from the middle-east and had taken over Professor McGonagall's posts as head of Gryffindor and Transfiguration teacher. Even though he had never set foot in the castle before his appointment two years ago, he had proven himself a very able and likeable replacement. Even if his accent did make a few of the incantations a bit more difficult. He was poised in position to receive the first years that always came across the lake and nodded and smiled to the returning students as they passed.

He gave a very suspicious look at Melissa as she wobbled past him.

"She got a bit train sick," Dom said, pulling out a dashing smile that could usually disarm just about anyone. She too was part Veela after all.

As they joined the hundreds of others flooding into the great hall, Rose overtook that ran into the arms of a handsome, tall, sandy haired guy who picked her up into a huge hug and made a deliberate scene of kissing Rose when Scorpius could see them. Albus was pretty sure he could hear his best friend's teeth grinding as the walked over to the Slytherin table.

Aiden Finch-Flechley, whose father had been a member of Dumbledore's Army but had been forced to flee Hogwarts when Voldemort took control because he was muggleborn, was Rose's third Gryffindore boyfriend of the past few years and easily the worst.

He seemed to have developed a serious hatred for Albus and Scorpius during the fifth year and never missed an opportunity to torment them. Rose seemed completely oblivious to it since he was never mean to them when she was around.

Albus and Scorpius took their seats at the end of the table since most of the other people in Slytherin did want to sit near them. Anya Zabini sent them a cold look of disgust as she marched past with two of her friends. She was tall, slim, black and undeniably gorgeous but enjoyed being the centre of attention way too much and seemed to think Albus and Scorpius weren't people but actually some kind of fungal growth.

Al saw Dominique greet her other friends at the Ravenclaw table but suddenly started looking around frantically. In the bustle of getting into the great hall, she had lost sight of Melissa.

"Oh, bugger! Melissa! Melissa!" Albus shouted to no effect.

Melissa, in her half-conscious state was wobbling near the staff table. To Dom's complete horror she then plonked her self down in the empty seat next to the Headmaster. Albus immediately jumped up and scrambled to get to her while Dom dodged other Ravenclaws, trying to do the same.

Just as they both made it to the staff table, Headmaster Torrens, without looking away from the piece of parchment unrolled in front of him said in a deep Scottish accent. "Miss Barker."

Melissa's head slowly turned to see who had just spoken but she could probably only see his hands because her eyes were glazed over.

"Is there any particular reason that you've decided to seat yourself at the staff table this evening?" he asked casually. He was a bald, broad shouldered man with intimidating eyes that still hadn't stopped reading the parchment.

"This isn't my room…" Melissa mumbled then, with great difficulty started to rise from the chair.

Dom hurried around one side of the staff table to get to her friend, apologising over and over to the many teachers that were now glaring at her friend. Albus attempted to go around the other side but was blocked when another member of staff jumped up to help Melissa who was now trying to curl up and go to sleep on the table like a cat.

When the teacher turned around the great hall seemed to start dissolving away and Albus was pretty sure that gravity had temporarily failed. It was her. And for the first time in his life, Albus found himself agreeing with his brother. It was worth coming to Hogwarts just for this.

Even though his brain didn't seem to be working properly, Albus was pretty sure that he'd never seen someone so beautiful in all his life. Deep, long lashed, sapphire blue eyes were looking at him giving him a sudden urge to release a flock of doves into the air. She had long, black hair with blood red streaks and golden tan skin that made him thing of marble steps for some reason. _Don't look at her lips! Don't look at her lips!_ A very distant voice was saying so naturally he looked at her lips and at the same time someone started letting off fireworks in his stomach. _Wow, so that's where people go when they die…to her lips._ A wave of panic hit as Albus realized his internal clock had stopped ticking. Had he been looking at her for only a second or was it now April?

"Maybe she should go to the hospital wing, she looks very pale," Alexandria said in a silken voice that Albus thought was coming from somewhere above the castle, possibly heaven.

 _Go to the vault! Go to the vault! Go to the vault!_ Albus' defences suddenly shot up and like an electric shock, his brain came back to life.

What the hell just happened to him? He had gone into complete meltdown just by looking at her! She had to be half-Veela. No, Victorie and Dom were part Veela and his brain never turned to melted butter around them.

"Yeah," Albus quickly said trying to sound normal. "She wasn't feeling well on the train."

"Good party I take it," Torrens said making it obvious he knew exactly what was wrong with Melissa.

"Yeah, good. Professor McGonagall says hi," Albus smiled, purposely avoiding Professor Bonde's incredible eyes.

He and Dom were leading Melissa away from the staff table while she mumbled something about the West Indies Test series and Marmite when Albus felt as if he was being pulled back after getting a whiff of Professor Bonde's perfume. Despite the fact that it felt as if he was walking through wet concrete, they made it out of the Great Hall, unfortunately, everyone had witnessed Melissa doing a wonderful imitation of what happened when somebody got Confunded too many times.

Albus and Dom returned to the great hall after dumping Melissa on one of the hospital beds where she immediately started snoring. The just caught the very end of the sorting by the time they took their seats.

"How is she?" Scorpius asked.

"Sleeping like a baby and apparently dreaming of toast," Albus said.

Headmaster Torrens stood up and marched to the podium causing the great hall to fall silent but all eyes were still on Professor Bonde.

"How long was I staring at her?" Albus whispered.

"Only a second or two. Don't worry mate, you're not the only one. Look."

Scorpius was quite right. Just about every male in the room was staring shamelessly at the new Professor and a few of them were actually drooling. One Hufflepuff boy was doing everything in his power not to look at her though, mainly because he'd just received a sharp kick to his shin from his very grumpy looking girlfriend.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Hogwarts," Torrens said, his deep voice carrying across the hall. "Those of you that know me also know that I like to get the announcements out of the way first because the attention of people that have just gorged themselves on a spectacular feast tends to wane. First, as I'm sure you are all aware, Professor Bayem has taken maternity leave and will no be teaching this year. We have however, been very lucky in that her replacement for the year is none other than the duelling champion of the wizarding world, Alexandria Bonde."

Before he had even finished saying her name, the great hall had erupted into cheers that were louder than the Quidditch final. Professor Bonde smiled graciously and gave a small wave. She was clearly used to being in front of a screaming crowd.

"Settle down, settle down. This appointment was only made last week so Professor Bonde has had little time to familiarize herself with the defence against the dark arts curriculum. I'll ask that you all be patient with her while she catches up. Anyone wishing to try out for their house Quidditch teams, submit your names to your head of houses and Mr. Filtch, our caretaker would like me to remind you all with murderous intent that all Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes products are banned and the forest is completely off limits to all students. Hogsmead visits for third years and above require a signed permission slip and – "

He was interrupted by a great crash outside the doors of the hall and Filtch quickly went bolting off.

"And watch out for Peeves. Now…dinner is served."

The hall immediately became a ravenous horde as people filled the plates with everything they possibly could. The food as usual was terrific but I didn't stop any of the male students for stealing the odd glace to the staff table where Professor Bonde was having an animated chat with Professor Longbottom.

Albus' appetite was disappearing quickly as he realized soon he would be embarrassing himself again, not just in front of the teachers that already knew him but now also in front of a world-famous celebrity and woman that he would no doubt fantasize about for the rest of his life.


	4. The Mind Vault

When Albus woke, he didn't need to check the time. He knew it was about half-five in the morning. His body clock always got him up at that sort of time. The early mornings before the rest of the castle began to stir were the best. It's why he never missed them.

He quickly got out of bed, dressed and headed straight for the portal. Portraits inside the common room were snoozing away peacefully and he never had to worry about squeaking floorboards that might wake them up. The Slytherin common room was underneath the lake and the hard-stone floors had thick rugs draped over them.

He exited the dungeons and immediately headed towards the greenhouses. At this time of the morning, not even Filtch was awake so there was no need to sneak around. He passed the greenhouses quickly and continued towards the Hufflepuff common room, stopping just short of it in front of a portrait that had a large wooden table full of fruit on it. He gave the greenish-yellow pare on it a quick tickle and it opened up into a narrow corridor.

There was a lot of noise coming from the Hogwarts kitchens as a hundred plus house elves rushed around preparing breakfast for all the students and staff. Little pointy bat ears were darting around cooking mounds of sausages and pallets of bacon. A four-foot stack of eggs sat at the ready next to a frying pan the size of a jacuzzi tub while caldrons of porridge were being stirred by levitating wooden spoons.

"Master Albus, sir. Welcome back," a squeaky voice said from next to him. A young house elf with peach coloured skin was smiling up at him and holding a mug of hot tea.

"Thanks, Tiggy," he grinned and took the mug from him.

"Sirs morning ritual has not changed," the elf said.

"Course not, it's my favourite part of the day," Albus said before taking a sip of his tea. "Lovely cuppa, as always."

The house elf bowed with pride. "Tiggy has prepared Master Albusisses bucket!" for some reason house elves always had trouble with possessive pronouns.

The tiny creature shot off and returned with a large metal can full of raw, bloody, meat steaks and plonked it at his feet.

"Thanks, Tig," he smiled. He finished his tea while surveying the busy elves. They must only sleep about three hours a day considering that they clean the dormitories in the late evenings.

He handed his empty mug back to Tiggy then departed with the bucket full of meat.

As he approached the main entrance to the castle he saw through the windows that the sun had only just started to creep over the horizon giving off very faint pink glow. The heavy fifteen-foot-tall doors to the castle was shut tight so he gave his watch a quick glance.

He had about three minutes.

They always unlocked at six on the dot so that Hagrid could come in from his hut or Filtch could begin an early morning patrol of the grounds, not that he ever did. He was getting way too old to be waking up that early. His cat on the other hand…

People often speculated that Dumbledore had enchanted Mrs. Norris for him because she must have been at least forty years old by now.

Albus put the bucket down on the ground, stood up straight facing the doors and closed his eyes. _Time for a little ambiance_. A second later he was standing in front of a gigantic steel bank vault. He had left the school and journeyed deep into his own mind. He approached the massive uncrackable vault door which opened for him without him touching it and he stepped inside.

Albus had discovered, during one of his many excursions into the muggle world, something called _The Method of Loci_. Sometimes called a Mind Palace, it was a memory technique developed by the Ancient Greeks in which a person builds an area inside their own mind and fills it with visual references to specific memories so that they can navigate their way back to them whenever they like. Albus's was a bit different though since while he had been building his, he had also been learning Occlumency. The combination of the two had turned the 'palace' into and impenetrable vault.

Within his mind vault was a room the size of the great hall that housed a collection of knowledge even bigger than the Hogwarts library. The vault wasn't just filled with books, it was filled with Incredibly detailed and carefully stored memories for music, film, TV, the wizarding world, the muggle world and more. There were four great sections with signs above them: _Early Memories. Adolescent Memories. Teenage Memories. Adult Memories._ And within those sections were sub-sections with labels like; _Nightmares, Fantasies, Injuries, Oddities_ and _Experiences._ Other sub-sections were dedicated to time at Hogwarts. _Lessons, Exams, Essays, Detentions, Incidents, Navigation, Students, Teachers, Creatures_ and _Gossip_. All filed away in chronological order.

On the opposite side of the vault were the same labels but containing all information about the muggle world. Another area up ahead had the words; _Currently Learning_ above it and large file folders stuck out with titles like; _Chinese Fireballs_ , _Driving, Splattergroit, Aeronautical engineering, Astro-physics_ and _cosplay_.

Even though he had only managed to create the vault about eighteen months ago, he had already had to increase its size twice already because of how much he had been storing in there. Much like the Hogwarts library, there was a restricted section. A place that was locked off from the rest of his mind by more layers of protection. Heavy bars and metal doors blocked access. At the very back of that section was a single door that was covered in warning signs. It had a single sign that identified what was in there. It read; _Delphi_.

At that moment he didn't need to visit any other part than the music library and quickly walked over to it. His ever-growing collection of music always appeared as vinyl records in the Mind Vault despite that fact that he never owned a single vinyl in real life. He began flipping through a few of the albums before finding one that brought a smile to his face.

Of course, that section came complete with a muggle record player which he placed the record on and dropped the needle. He shot out of the vault and back into the real world where he was still standing in front of the Hogwarts entrance.

A moment later, _David Bowie's Golden Years_ started playing in his ears just as the huge wooden doors opened. He picked up the meat bucket and started dancing his way out of the castle, miming the lyrics as he went. The dawn was illuminating enough of the grounds that he didn't have to worry about falling over even when he broke into a few disco moves along the way and before long he was close to Hagrid's hut, which seemed to be vibrating slightly with the sound of his snoring.

In the paddock next to the hut was a family of Hippogriffs. Just when Hagrid had started to worry that Buckbeak was getting too old to find a mate, they had happened of a wounded female that he had taken in and named Witherwings. Ironically, that was the same name that Buckbeak had been called when they were hiding him from the Ministry. The two had given birth to three chick/ponies which Albus simply called Elton, Mick and Freddie. He didn't care what their real names were.

The animals had gotten so used to him after six years that he didn't even have to bow in front of them anymore. The babies quickly rushed over to him and began chomping down on the meat he threw them as their proud parents watched on. A few minutes later, Albus took the bucket with the remaining meat and boogied off into the forest.

It didn't take long before the winged skeletal Thestrals began to show up. Like the Hippogriffs, they had become accustomed to Albus feeding them in the early mornings and didn't hesitate to approach. Once the meat and the song playing in his head had finished he waved the ghost horses goodbye before heading back but stopped when he heard something in the distance.

Listening more closely, he heard a hard voice speak. "This forest is not your playground, human!"

 _Bollocks_. Albus knew that voice and quickly started walking towards it.

"I apologize. I'm new here and I don't know where your borders are," a female voice responded and judging by the way his lower intestine started doing cartwheels, there was only one people it could be.

"You think we haven't heard that story a hundred times from a hundred arrogant wand users that trespass on our lands!"

Albus rounded the massive base of a tree to find a very angry Centaur looking down at a witch. He could feel his brain starting to lose function again because this time, not only was Professor Bonde every bit as beautiful as she'd been the night before but now she had a lot less clothing on.

She was wearing nothing but a pair of black trainers, very tight gym leggings and a sports bra. Her black and red hair was tied back in a pony tail and she looked like she had either been sprayed with a water hose or was just sweating profusely.

"If I am trespassing I can promise you that it is entirely by accident and that it won't happen again," she said amicably, raising her hands in a non-threatening way.

"If? _If?_ You _are_ trespassing!"

Albus forced his mind to focus and managed to peel his eyes away from her. "Are you a miserable prat all the time, Bane, or is it seasonal?" Albus said loudly, grabbing the attention of both of them.

Professor Bonde looked quite startled to see him while Bane just looked murderous.

"You! You've been warned before!" the Centaur growled.

"I know, even though I've never passed your boarders, which indecently begin a quarter mile that way, so, much like myself, Professor Bonde has done nothing wrong," Albus smiled innocently which seemed to anger the Centaur even more.

But Bane didn't seem to have a retort for what he'd just said and instead turned back to the woman. "Professor?"

"It's temporary. I'm only covering the defence against the dark arts position for a year," she said conversationally. Bonde didn't seem afraid, just cautious and trying to make sure that she didn't have to battle a Centaur on her first day.

"At which point she will return to defend her title of duelling champion of the wizarding world so, she is quite literally the last witch on earth that you want to pick a fight with," Albus was all to happy to explain. "Maybe instead of harassing the staff members, you should go back to brooding with the rest of your herd about how Pluto is no longer a planet."

The look in Banes eyes said that Albus had just struck a low blow but he didn't attack. He beat his hoof against the ground before turning around and charging off into the trees.

Albus waited until he was gone before speaking again. "The Centaurs are iffy about their turf but they never actually hurt anyone. They just like to scare people, usually the first years. Most of them can be quite pleasant, but Bane just doesn't like humans."

Albus had to work very hard to keep looking at her face because the sports bra she was wearing was doing a wonderful job of telling him exactly how amazing her breasts were. Of course, it also showed that she had biceps and a six-pack bigger than most men so it would probably be quite dangerous to get caught staring at her chest.

"I should have asked Professor Hagrid where I can and can't go," Bonde mumbled looking a bit annoyed at herself. She turned to look at him and for a second Albus was mesmerised by her startling blue eyes. "I may be new here but, I'm pretty sure that students aren't supposed to be out of the castle at this time, especially not in the forest."

"It's okay. Hagrid and the other Professors know. I come down and feed the Hippogriffs. It's sort of my morning routine," he said trying to pull his eyes away from hers.

"You're always up this early?"

"I never sleep very well in that place," he shrugged.

She looked him up and down with a slightly curious expression, then with no change in her demeanour she said; "You're Harry Potter's son, aren't you?"

"That's what he keeps telling people."

"I've seen pictures of him. You look just like him, except of the glasses and the scar, of course," while absently scratching her thigh.

"Yeah, his eyesight is among the many things I didn't inherit," he said grimly.

"Did you inherit his dance moves or where they all yours?" she asked with a little smile.

"What?!" Albus squeaked.

"When I was running over from the lake, I saw you dancing." She seemed to find his embarrassment amusing because continued to scrutinize him.

"I wasn't dancing…" he sort of mumbled. Albus knew his cheeks and ears had gone bright red but now he felt as if someone had lit a fire on top of his head.

"No?"

"No…that…was…a boogie," he said awkwardly. Why in the name of Merlin he thought that would make it sound better, he didn't know.

"A boogie?"

"Yeah, sometimes I…boogie down," he said trying to sound proud of himself but failing miserably.

Professor Bonde suddenly burst into laughter, but it didn't make Albus want to run away or crawl into a ball and die. It was an affectionate laugh, like when someone saw a dog do something funny.

"And you do it without music?" she managed to ask a few seconds later.

"My iPod would probably explode if I tried to use it in the castle so I just listen in my head," he smiled.

"Most people just whistle or hum."

"You'll learn very quickly that I'm a bit abnormal," he smiled sadly.

"Well, alright then, abnormal Severus Potter. I don't mean to be rude, but I need to finish my twelve miles before breakfast so maybe you should boogie back up to the castle," she grinned making him feel stupid again. She scratched her thigh again and started jogging on the spot for a second before taking off though forest. "Nice meeting you by the way," she called out from somewhere in the trees.

"You too," Albus called back.

He had made a complete fool of himself and yet, he didn't really care. It was obvious that she had a sense of humour and she had just taken his word for it that the other Professors knew that he wondered the grounds in the early morning. Best of all she hadn't responded at all when he confirmed that Harry Potter was his father. Most people either became wonderstruck (usually around James) or seemed slightly repulsed (usually around Albus), she had done neither.

So, not only was she inhumanly beautiful but she was also…cool.

 _This year is going to be harder than I thought._

Never the less, Albus returned to the castle with a little smile on his face.

About two hours later, he was washed and wearing his school robes, making his way into the great hall with Scorpius. Most of the students were already present, scoffing the amazing breakfast feast that the house elves had prepared for them. The two of them took their place at the lonely end of the Slytherin table and after Albus poured himself some coffee, he looked up to the staff table. Only Slughorn was absent, as he usually was, because he was probably still snoring away. Professor Bonde was there, her hair slightly damp from where she'd showered and now wearing a modest pair of dark blue trousers and a top that looked half-way between a witch's robes and a leather jacket.

She didn't seem to be eating what every one else was and instead had a plate of various fruits and nuts in front of her as well as a green drink that looked almost like sewage. Albus wasn't surprised. You didn't get a body like hers without working incredibly hard for it. He suspected the swamp water and twelve mile run in the morning were just a small part of it.

"You're staring at her again," Scorpius warned.

"Right," Albus said turning his head away from her so quickly he heard his own neck crack. For a few moments they sat in silence sipping their coffee.

"Did I tell you –"

"About her abs and her legs and tits and how sexy she is even when she's covered in sweat? Yes. Yes, you have, four times, in the last hour, one of which was while you were brushing your teeth," Scorpius said, sounding very bored. "Don't get your hopes up mate. I heard that Emile Santos, the seeker for Spain asked her out and she turned him down."

"What a wanker."

"Yeah, but, he's also an international Quidditch player. If she is turning down handsome, rich, famous guys from all over the world, what chance does a sixteen-year-old Slytherin have?"

"You should be a motivational speaker, Scorp," Albus groaned sarcastically.

"I'm a realist. And usually, so are you. My point is, that _that_ woman can have anyone she wants which means you're competing with just about every other bloke in the country and probably a few women too. Those are long odds mate."

"You're right," he sighed. "but, there are things you simply can't unsee and her in her workout gear is one of them."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Dominque and Melissa (who still looked a little pale but was at least standing up straight) had just entered the hall and walked past them. She nodded to the ceiling where a handsome brown owl was flying straight towards Albus with an unmistakable scarlet letter in its beak. The owl dropped the letter in front of him without landing then took of as if it were trying to outrun an explosion.

"Ah, well, this should lighten my mood," Albus said opening the letter.

"ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER!" his mothers enraged voice screamed from the letter. "YOU WILL RETURN YOUR BROTHERS WAND THE SECOND YOU GET THIS OR I SWEAR TO MERLIN YOU WILL BE SPENDING CHRISTMAS ON THE SPELL DAMAGE WARD AT ST. MUNGO'S!"

The letter exploded in a puff of smoke. A few pockets of laughter erupted around the hall but mostly people whispered to each other while giving Albus dirty looks. Most of the staff looked furious. Albus chanced a quick look at Professor Bonde who had stopped eating and was simply looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"At least she skipped the lecture this time," Albus shrugged.


	5. Elemental Conflict

_Dear James._

 _Enclosed is your wand. Don't worry, I only used it to scratch those hard to reach places._

 _And to unclog a toilet on the third floor._

 _Lots of love._

 _Albus._

He rolled the small piece of parchment around the wand and gave it to one of the schools Tawny Owls for delivery before heading back to the castle. There he ran into Dominique and Melissa one the way to his first lesson; double charms.

"Thanks for getting that howler, Albus. Nobody even looked at me after that," Melissa said happily.

"Glad I could help," he smiled.

"I told you it wouldn't be a big deal. You didn't even get detention," Dom reassured.

"That's because they can't punish you for stuff that you did outside of school, I just brought my hangover _into_ school, there's a difference. I can't even remember most of it."

"It wasn't as bad as you think. Stop worrying," Dom said.

"You're always so sweet when you lie to me," she said batting her eyelids before turning to Albus. "How bad was it?"

"You handle it with all the grace and finesse of a concussed Centaur trying to get through airport customs," he said without hesitation.

"See, he always tells me the truth," Melissa said smugly before her face fell. "Why do you always tell me the truth?!"

"Because I respect your hair," he said solemnly.

"Yes, the hair is noble and wise," she agreed running her hand over her head. "See you later."

The two of them departed heading off to transfiguration. Unfortunately, it was still the practice that Slytherin and Gryffindor shared more classes that they did with Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Even though sixth and seventh year classes usually became more diluted with students of other houses that had passed certain O.W.L.'s, the overall pass rate seemed to be getting better. Either people were generally getting smarter or the tests were getting easier. Either way, they had fallen back into the old rhythms to compensate. Now astrology and ancient runes were the only classes he had with Dom and Melissa.

These days, Albus rarely even attempted the actual casting, he just said the incantations. He knew nothing would happen when he waved his wand and Flitwick had stopped waiting for him to produce any actual spell work, but he did like to see everyone in his class at least try.

So Albus mostly fake tried.

It was always much more entertaining to watch Scorpius try and master a spell before Rose could. He had actually managed it a few times and seeing Rose's eager dedication suddenly turn to murderous intent was priceless. It didn't matter how many people told her that she didn't have to be top of all her classes, she was always determined to, if possible, get even better marks than her mother did.

Alas, half an hour later, Rose received twenty points to Gryffindor when she was the first to successfully cast the _Epoximise_ charm on her fourth attempt.

Double potions was a different story. Since it required very little, if any, spell work, Albus was fully capable of interacting. Of course, he was always careful not to produce work of any significant noteworthiness. One; because so many people now knew the story of Harry finding Snape's (the half-blood prince) old textbook and would immediately assume that he had done something similar aka _cheated_ and two; because he wanted to stay as far away from the 'Slug Club' as possible.

Scorpius rarely put much effort into Potions either. Slughorn was vehemently staying away from the Malfoy family (or anyone else associated with Voldemort) and even if Scorpius's marks were the highest in Hogwart's history, Slughorn would have just given him a nod then hurried away. Rose, Dominique and especially Lily were always fawned over though. Slughorn was never rude to Albus but had immediately classed him as an underachiever and there for didn't merit any real affection. In return, Albus always made sure that he (and of course Scorpius's) work was worthy of a pass grade and nothing more.

And so, it went. The first few lessons were as non-eventful as the last years had been which were followed by an equally uneventful lunch. As the afternoon rolled around, Albus found himself half dreading, half excited about their first defence against the dark arts lesson. On the one hand, he would obviously be humiliated and laughed at for not being able to pull off any real defensive magic, on the other, he got two whole hours to gaze longingly at Professor Bonde, so, they sort of balanced out.

When the students had all shuffled into the classroom and found their seats, Albus immediately noticed that there seemed to be a massive uptake in attentiveness. For the first time ever, everyone seemed as ready and eager to learn as Rose did.

The reason why was standing at the head of the class, leaning over her desk. There was an open textbook and few rolls of parchment and what looked like a pot of ointment or moisturiser on the desk. She seemed to be doing some last-minute revision while the class was settling down which wasn't actually a very good sign but no one seemed to care. She stopped and looked up, a little surprised to see just how ready everyone was.

"Good afternoon. I'm Professor Bonde. As you know, my placement at this post was very last minute so, If I get your names wrong, I'm sorry, I haven't had much time to prepare," she said earnestly.

Albus decided in that moment that if she wanted to call him Margaret, he really wouldn't mind. Instead she did the register.

"Alright, let me get the bad news out of the way first, this is not going to be a practical lesson, so wands away please," she said.

This caused a bit of confusion. A few people snapped out of their dazed states and let out audible groans. Albus got the distinct impression that many people in the class were hoping for a chance to impress her.

"I know, practical is more fun but the subject we are going to be tackling today is one of the most important in the magical world and will definitely be on your N.E.W.T. exams, so you need to pay attention. In fact, you'll almost certainly be hearing about it in your charms and transfiguration classes later in the year," she said and with a tiny flick of her wand letters began appearing on the blackboard behind her.

Albus took note of her wand straight away. It looked very different from any he'd seen before. It was thirteen and a half inches and at first glance it looked almost as if it were encased in metal. A quick trip into his mind vault gave him more information.

 _Piratinera guianensis._ Rare South American snakewood. One of the strongest woods on Earth (no wonder it looked so strong). _Must have cost a fortune!_ He had once seen a snakewood fountain pen on sale in London priced at £480.00

He came back to the class to see her move aside as reveal what had been written. _Caladain's Principle_.

"Anyone ever heard of Cala – Yes, Miss Weasley," she said quickly noticing that Rose's hand had shot into the air.

"Caladain's principle is standard theory of testing spells before they become ministry approved," she said very quickly.

"Correct. Fifteen points to Gryffindor," Bonde smiled which caused all the Gryffindor students to look very smug. "For a bonus fifteen points, who can tell me the most important part of Caladain's Principle?"

Rose seemed to think hard for a second before her hand shot into the air again.

"Yes?"

"That all practices be undertaken by multiple wizards and witches so that they can compare results?" Rose said sounding a little breathless.

"Nope, sorry," Bonde smiled causing Rose to look horrified.

Her eyes darted left to right furiously as she dug through her own brain for the information before holding up her hand again. Bonde nodded at her.

"That all practices must be observed at all times?"

"You're listing off the health and safety parts of the principle," Bonde chuckled, seemingly amused that she had memorized that stuff. Rose on the other hand looked like she was about to have a stroke.

Albus gave Scorpius a tiny nudge in the ribs then held up a small piece of parchment under the desk where Bonde couldn't see. Scorpius glanced down at it and saw that it said; _It's incomplete._ Scorpius then raised his hand.

"Mr. Malfoy?"

"It's incomplete."

"Fifteen points to Slytherin," she grinned looking impressed while the Gryffindor's, Rose in particular, looked ready to commence _The Purge_. "Why is it incomplete? Because we are constantly developing new spells and enchantments and the pre-set rules that govern other spells may not apply to the new ones. Or, as often happens, the rules need to be changed slightly, especially when a very old charm or curse is discovered from some ancient culture that isn't around anymore to tell us exactly how it works. Caladain's Principle isn't like Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, it has to constantly be updated. Never the less, it works as an excellent basis for learning the potential hazards and limitations of spells, the most important of which is called _Elemental Conflict_."

Albus did a quick check of his mind vault but didn't find anything about Elemental Conflict in there and suddenly became very interested.

"I cannot begin to tell you how many wizards and witches have lost their lives through the centuries because they didn't consider the potential elemental conflict when experimenting with spells. It's what occurs when the very basic make-up of two magics collide and become unstable. I'm not talking about a curse hitting a shield charm, I'm talking about the very essence of the spells themselves. For example, err…Hogwarts," she said causing everyone to suddenly look slightly alarmed. "Hogwarts has a massive number of different spells and enchantments. Around the perimeter there are anti-intruder jinxes, anti-disapparation wards and so on. But what would happen, if say, you placed an enchantment that invited muggles into the castle right on top of the muggle repelling charms, what then?"

"The two would directly conflict with one another," Anya Zabini said, seemingly to herself.

"Exactly," Bonde said causing Zabini to look a bit surprised, mostly because she'd probably realized she'd said the answer out loud without raising her hand first. "Now, most spells won't present much of a problem with elemental conflict because they vanish pretty quickly, but enchantments, curses, any magic that is meant to last a long time and do something specific, or many different things over time, will often have a conflict of some sort. Caladain's Principle is a starting point for how you test spells in order to find their potential conflicts and that is what we will be going over for this lesson. So, if you'll take out _Elements of the Advance_ and turn to page twelve."

Albus began lapping up the information, absorbing it like a sponge. It was actually quite fascinating to be going into the real 'meat' of how magic works and for some reason, gave him a sense of relief. There were certain enchantments and spells that just didn't fit in with others.

Just like him.

Towards the end of the lesson, just as Bonde was telling them that she'll be grilling them on Caladian's Principle next lesson to make sure they had read it, one of the Gryffindor's raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr…Donnelly?" she said gingerly.

"Yeah, Mark Donnelly," he nodded so enthusiastically that it made his chair vibrate. He also blushed at the fact that she got his name right, clearly forgetting that she had taken a register at the start of the class. "My brother, he finished two years ago, he told…he said that we get taught how to do a Patronus in the seventh year. I just wanted to know if he was telling the truth?"

"We'll be moving on to the Patronus Charm once we've finished with Caladian's Principle," she nodded. There was an immediate swell of anticipation from everyone in the class. Everyone except Albus. "And depending on how well you do with it, we may be able to attempt messenger forms as well, but that's not a given so don't get too excited."

The bell went but before she could dismiss the class, another Gryffindor raised his hand.

"Quickly."

"Is it true your Patronus is a phoenix?" he asked eagerly. All eyes turned to her.

"No, it's not."

"It's an eagle, you idiot," A Slytherin boy spat.

"Wrong again, see you next time," she waved them out of the class room.

"It looks like an eagle, in the pictures I mean," the Slytherin boy muttered to his friends as they left.

"Knowing these morons, it's probably a jellyfish," Albus whispered to Scorpius and yet he had the strangest feeling that Professor Bonde had heard him. He glanced over his shoulder as he was leaving to see that she wasn't looking at him.

Instead, she was looking at the floor beside his desk. There was a tiny scrap of parchment there. _Bugger!_ Before Albus could even move to try and get it, it shot off the floor and into her hand where she unfurled and read it. That's when she did look up at him and those sapphire blue eyes almost seemed to pierce him like a dagger.

She knew that he had given Scorpius the answer and she didn't look pleased.

Albus left as quickly as he could.

"Why didn't you just answer the question yourself?" Scorpius asked later that evening in the Slytherin common room. It was late and everyone else had gone to bed so they had two of the big comfy armchairs to themselves. "You are allowed to do that you know. If you've got it all stored up in your vault –"

"I didn't have anything on Caladian's Principle, it was just a guess," Albus admitted.

"Oh, I see, you wanted me to answer so that you would avoid looking like an idiot in front of her if you got it wrong," Scorpius said, all too familiar with that tactic.

"Well, I've already made myself look like an idiot in front of her once," he admitted.

"Good."

"Do you think she's part Veela?" Albus asked ignoring his comment.

"No. I think she's natural gorgeous and powerful and that you've got a crush on your teacher. The word to take away from all that is 'teacher', by the way."

"I don't have a crush," Albus said defensively.

"No, you're right. It's more of a very unhealthy obsession," Scorpius corrected.

"Alright, it might be a crush."

"It's also illegal. She's twenty-two and you're underage. If anything happened between you two, she wouldn't just get the sack, she'd probably get locked up in Azkaban," he said casually.

"Point taken."

"I can practically hear your grandmother now; _Harlot! Succubus! Using your feminine wiles to corrupt the innocent! Oh, my poor grandson!_ "

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. You spent most of last year telling me that I needed to give up on Rose and go out with someone else, well, I'm just returning the favour," he smiled.

"I never told you to give up on her," Albus commented.

"Yes, you did! You were on at me non-stop!"

"No, I was trying to convince you to go out with some one else to make her jealous," Albus explained. "I thought that was obvious?"

"What?! No it wasn't –"

"Yeah, jealousy, works a treat," Albus was grinning way too much for Scorpius' liking. He glared at him, with venom in his eyes.

"Didn't work so well with your last crush!"

Albus felt like a hot poker had just been stuck through his gut. His eyes widened with rage. Obviously, the look on his face was enough because Scorpius winced and seemed to immediately realize he had gone too far.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that," he said in a small voice. "I shouldn't have said it, I don't know why I did."

Albus forced his temper to abate. He wasn't about to have a fight with the one person that had always stuck with him, through thick and thin. He knew Scorpius had blurted that out without thinking and judging by the look on his face, the guilt of saying it was worse than anything Albus could have done to him.

"Yeah…well…if she turns out to be evil as well, you can say it as much as you want," he said, giving a half smile.

"I don't think she's evil…but, take it from someone that knows, pining over someone that is only going to go off with someone else, it's…unrequited love, is no fun at all," Scorpius sighed.

"Keep the faith, Scorp," he smiled. "You know, you've got my blessing."

"Don't…don't encourage me…I'm going to bed," he groaned.

"I'm going to stay and –"

"Go to the vault, I know. See ya tomorrow," he said, heading off the dorm.

Albus exhaled loudly. Scorpius was right of course. He usually was. Not only was she completely out of his league but she was a teacher and doing anything sexual with an underage student would destroy her completely. They were quite literally an elemental conflict.

He needed to get these stupid thoughts out of his head. He knew he wouldn't be able to stop finding her attractive but that was an altogether different magic that only women seemed to possess. But he needed to stop having the crazy thoughts that some kind of relationship between them was possible. Because it wasn't.

So, yes, he could be a horny teenager and drool over the sexy teacher like everyone else, but that was it. Nothing more.

"And there is your whole life in a nutshell, Albus," he said rubbing his hands over his face. "She belongs in this world, you don't. Stop fooling yourself."

There was an odd scrapping sound from just beside him. Albus looked up to see that the suit of armour on the wall had turned its head to face him. That wasn't exactly out of the ordinary. The suits of armour and statues all over the school moved all the time. Some of the them spoke and others even sang at Christmas.

"It's rude to eavesdrop you know," he growled.

The armours helmet snapped back into its original position. Albus heaved himself up from his chair and walked off towards the dorms.

"Even the armour thinks I'm an idiot, that's new."


	6. Out of Sight, Out of Mind

"Oh, come on! This is ridiculous!" Rose yelled and booted the wall, which, judging by the sudden surge of pain that crossed her features, she instantly regretted.

"You're right. Trolls in tutu's is ridiculous," Albus remarked, walking up the seventh-floor corridor and pointing to the large portrait next to him.

"You're hilarious," Rose groaned, rubbing her foot. "Why did our stupid parents have to tell everyone about the room of requirement?!"

"Well, it wasn't just them. There were about forty other people camped out in that room when Voldemort laid siege to Hogwarts."

"I know, but that was Dumbledore's Army! They could have kept it too themselves. Now everyone knows about the room and so it's always occupied. I wanted to go in there to practice my Transfiguration homework but somebody is in there every time I try!"

"And you know, most of the people who use it aren't in there studying," Albus said adding insult to literal injury.

Rose shot him a scathing look.

She knew it was true and was completely against it. Not just because of her academically inclined nature but also because she was head girl. A lot of Hogwarts students would sneak off the room of requirement for private snogging sessions and anything else they could get away with. In Albus's fifth year, his brother had believed that he could use the room to get around the castles strict rules regarding sex. That had been a mistake.

While male students would simply be ejected from the girl's dorms by either a sliding staircase or moving wall, if underage students attempted anything beyond groping their genitalia would suddenly and horrifyingly develop the wizarding equivalent of Herpes which was much worse. Apparently, it would vanish after a day or two but in the meantime, they were given a very memorable lesson about the old school traditions of Hogwarts. They also received zero sympathy from Madam Pomfrey.

The founding four's trust in the male populace only went so far.

Not that any of this was a problem for Albus, who had never even kissed a girl, let alone had a girlfriend that would want to be intimate with him.

"Listen, I know for a fact that Slytherin have booked the Quidditch field tomorrow evening. You know when your team has practice so just consult with Dom and that Hufflepuff captain, what his name, Peakes or something and find out when the field is free. You can practice Transfiguration there," he said quickly.

Rose looked a bit stunned for a second. "That's…a really good idea."

"Yes, I do have them occasionally, but don't tell anyone. They'll think it's a sign of the apocalypse or something," he smiled.

"Nobody thinks you're an idiot, Albus," Rose stated.

"The suits of armour do," he mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing. Probably my imagination. It just seems like the suits of armour and the statues are being very judgemental about me all of a sudden," Albus said realizing how stupid that sounded. "Anyway, gotta run, got Astrology in ten minutes. See ya."

Astrology was one of the few classes he actually did enjoy even though he disagreed with Professor Sinistra on just about every single that was taught. Last year, before his first lesson had even began, Albus had pulled out a sharpie and changed the plaque on door to the Astrology tower to read: _Astrology and Astronomy_.

Instead of reprimanding him, Professor Sinistra have given an approving nod and permanently changed the plaque with her wand shortly after while the rest of the class simply looked confused.

Best of all, Astrology and Astronomy provided a much-needed way of keeping his mind off a certain other Professor. He had actively avoided Professor Bonde, stopping himself for even looking at her during breakfast and dinner and even occasionally hiding behind trees when he saw her coming around during her twelve-mile morning runs. It had made the week very difficult at times but tomorrow that would change since he would have to see her in their defence against the dark arts class. Despite all that effort, he still couldn't get her out of his mind.

After the lesson, he spent the rest of the evening with a large tomb about Lethifolds and Dementors in his lap. The only reason he had picked that one was because it was big enough to conceal the real book he was reading: _Death by Blackhole: And other Comic Quandaries by Neil Degrasse Tyson._

Eventually, he went to bed and woke up at his usual time but had a far less cheerful time feeding the Hippogriffs and Thestrals. He was dreading the defence against the dark arts class more and more. The only reason for dreading it was that he didn't want to be subjected to disapproving looks from Bonde the whole time. He really didn't care when anyone else did it, but because it was her, the idea that she wasn't pleased with him was monumentally bad.

At least two of the statues turned their heads to look at him as he and Scorpius made their way down the hall towards the classroom. Albus had the sneaking suspicion that they were eager to watch him crash and burn. _Stupid things! Why can't you be inanimate, like normal statues?!_

As they shuffled into the class and took their seats, Albus immediately noticed that Professor Bonde was avoiding eye contact with him.

"Hello everyone. Welcome back to another exciting class of talking and reading," she said making sure everyone knew exactly how sarcastic she was being. "I promise, they won't all be like this, we will get to the good stuff later."

The bustle of moving chairs and bags died down and once again the entire room was almost hypnotically focused on the breath-taking woman in front. Except Albus, who had taken to reciting passages in his head by Dr. Tyson in a hopeless attempt stop himself from staring.

"So, let's find out who did the reading," Bonde said.

 _"_ _So, you're made of detritus [from exploded stars]. Get over it. Or better yet, celebrate it. After all, what nobler thought can one cherish than that the universe lives within us all?"_ Dr. Tyson said happily.

"Miss Zabini, what is a theoretical way of checking for possible elemental conflict?"

"Err…study the purpose of the spell and whether or not it is a modified version of a pre-existing spell," she said nervously.

"Very good," Bonde grinned.

 _"_ _Some mornings, while you're eating breakfast and you need something new to think about, though, you might want to ponder the fact that you see your kids across the table not as they are but as they once were, about three nanoseconds ago."_ Neil said helpfully.

 _Why can't you be teaching Astrology Dr. Tyson?_ Albus thought.

"Mr. Malfoy," Bonde said.

Albus's stared at his desk as forcefully as he could. He had just become very aware that she was now standing right in front of him.

"Give one of the rules that Caradian's Principle holds to no matter what spell being studied," she asked.

 _In about three billion years the sun will start dying and kill everything in the solar system. Yes! Keep thinking about mass extinction! God, she smells good. No! Stop it!_

"The natural ability of a witch or wizard shouldn't be a factor because even a very small elemental conflict can cascade into a much larger one," Scorpius said confidently.

"Excellent, good work," she beamed.

Albus dared to look up and just as she turned away, he noticed her eye caught his. He suddenly jolted in his seat. It felt as if someone had just flick him in the face and there was a very distant ringing in his ears.

 _What the hell was that?! Did a blood vessel just pop in my brain?_

What that really the level of effect that she had on him. He looked again, half expecting the same thing to happen but she had her back to him now, writing on the board with her wand. Unfortunately, today she had chosen to wear of formal trousers that seemed at least one size too small for her and the second he caught sight of her ass he suddenly felt like he was a snake being charmed out of a basket by an Indian man with a Pungi.

 _Err, Dr. Tyson, a little help please._

 _A sudden discharge of Oxytocin, often referred to as 'the love hormone' from the pituitary gland can sometime cause other chemical changes in the brain with varying results, either that or you are just a hopelessly horny teenager._ Dr. Tyson responded.

 _Shut up Neil! What do you know? You're an astrophysicist not a biologist!_

 _Then what the hell are you asking me for?_ Dr. Tyson snapped.

And now he was having an imaginary argument with muggle scientist that was representing part of his own thought process.

It was official. Albus was losing his mind.

Whether it was through will power, terror or just plain confusion, Albus seemed to become invisible for the rest of the class because Bonde didn't look at him again and managed to keep his eyes away from her. A wave of relief washed over him when the bell sounded but that was very quickly snuffed out.

"Mr. Potter, could you stay behind for a moment?" she said suddenly.

That wasn't going to be a problem because he had just become frozen on the spot. His mind darted back and forth between half-formed imaginary scenarios in which she was either mounting him on his desk and kissing him fiercely, screaming obscenities while using the cruciartus curse on him or telling him to get naked then laughing at what she saw.

Scorpius gave him a sympathetic look as he shuffled out with the rest of the class. Bonde gave a flick of her wand and the door closed then gave a second flick and a piece of parchment appeared out of thin air and landed in his lap.

"I think you dropped that," she said emotionlessly.

"Yes! Thank you, me and Scorp have been trying to finish that crossword puzzle for ages –"

"Don't insult my intelligence, Albus," she warned.

"I don't mean to offend," he said carefully.

"You also don't want to stand out," she said with a note of accusation in her voice. "I checked some of the Hogwarts records. Last year, Slytherin house received ninety-five points because of Scorpius Malfoy but didn't receive any because of you. Exactly how often to you hand him the answers?"

"I help him out, he helps me out. It's mutually beneficial. There is nothing in the Hogwarts rules that say students can't work together," Albus reminded.

"You're right. But in some instances, it is imperative that individuals understand what is being taught because in the real world they may not be able to ask for help."

"He does understand. I didn't tell him the answer earlier, he did the reading, just like you asked. I know why it's important."

"I'm not sure you do!" her voice was rising and starting to get angry. "I know Caladain's Principle may seem boring or confusing but I can't stress how important it is! All it takes is one mistake and a simple enchantment that you thought would be easy turns into something that can kill you! Do you want that to happen to him?!"

"I…" Albus paused. He was looking into her eyes, at the panic and despair behind them and suddenly it became clear as to why she was acting this way. "Who did you lose?"

The look on Bonde's face said that Albus might as well have slapped her. "What?!" she gasped.

"I'm sorry, you're right, it's none of my business," Albus back peddled quickly but it was no use. "I promise, it won't happen again."

Now, Albus was frightened. He clearly touched on something he shouldn't have. He back away heading for the door but just as he put his hand on the door knob he was struck by something that felt like a white-hot poker being jammed into his temple. He grabbed the sides of his head and hissed in pain but a second later the feeling was gone.

He turned to see Bonde staring intently at him. Her wand wasn't raised, it was just sitting in her shaking hand at her side but it didn't matter. Albus knew exactly what she had just done. What she had tried to do earlier when she'd asked Scorpius the question at the beginning of the lesson.

She had just tried to use Legillimency on him and the collision against his mind vault was what had caused him so much sudden pain. The fear inside him was instantly replace by seething anger.

He had never had a choice about being in the spotlight. He was the son of Harry Potter and he had barely been left alone since the day he was born. The public, the press, in the street, at quidditch games, he had been hounded everywhere. His head was the only real privacy he had left and now she was trying to violate it.

"You're an Occulmens?" she gasped in shock. Her face had now turned to panic and unless Albus was mistaken, guilt.

He didn't care. His anger was in control now. Gone was the overwhelming attraction and awe that he felt whenever he saw her, it has been replaced by cold, hard rage and an impulse to do something violent.

He still had enough control not to act on it. "Stay away from me!" he hissed, ripping open the door and charging out of the class.

As he left he heard her call after him. "Albus, wait! I'm sorry!"

He ignored it and kept moving until he was in the library. The unconscious thought that had brought him there had risen to the surface and even though he would like nothing better than to start breaking apart the tables and ripping up the books, the urge to prove his theory was stronger.

He returned to the Slytherin common room twenty minutes later with an old copy of the Daily Prophet in his hand.

"Whoa!" Scorpius said seeing the look on Albus' face. "You look like lightning is about to start coming out of your ears, what happened?"

Albus, using very aggressive details, repeated his conversation with Bonde which left Scorpius slightly worried.

"You're sure? She didn't just jinx you with a minor migraine or something?"

"I know when someone is trying to break into my mind vault, Scorp!" Albus yelled, no caring if anyone heard him.

"Shh!"

"They don't know what a mind vault is!" Albus hissed back.

"Yeah, but Bonde probably does! If she knows you're an Occelmens then she is probably going to find out that I am too and then she'll start asking all sorts of questions that nobody is allowed to answer!" he said keeping his voice low. "Why the hell did she use Legillimency anyway? Teachers aren't supposed to do that."

"She probably wanted to know how much I knew about her," Albus said.

"What do you mean?"

Albus threw the Daily Prophet to him. "Page seven, column three, fourth paragraph. That's from about three months ago, just before the duelling tournament started, they did a background on all the people that were entered."

 _"…_ _tragic loss of her father at age fifteen when an enchantment became unstable and exploded, killing him instantly…_ That's why she's been teaching us about elemental conflict. No wonder she got angry when she thought you were giving me all the answers," Scorpius said folding up the paper.

"Yeah. Can't believe I missed it. Luna Lovegood's mother was killed the same way. That should have tipped me off," Albus growled, annoyed at himself.

"I don't care how much information you've got stored away in that vault of yours, your bound to overlook a few things," Scorpius said trying to calm him down. "Maybe we should talk to the headmaster. He knows what happened at the start of our forth year is off limits, even he doesn't ask questions about it."

"No, I'm just going to stay away from her so she can't try it again," he sighed. "I'm definitely not going back to that damn class!"

"Albus, you can't drop defence against the dark arts! They'll –"

"They'll what? Expel me? Good! You know I don't even want to be here anyway," he huffed. That was an exaggeration. They wouldn't expel him, they just tell him that not getting his N.E.W.T. would damage his future prospects in the wizarding world but consider he had no intention of staying in the wizarding world, that wasn't much of a problem. "I'm going to go and practice some Buddhist meditation techniques I read about once to try and calm myself down and if that fails, I'm going to steal some booze from Professor Trelawney's office."

"You hate sherry," Scorpius pointed out.

"Beggars can't be choosers," Albus said skulking away.

Neither the meditation or the sherry worked (mainly because he wasn't able to get any) and he woke the next more still feeling agitated. He had decided to alter his morning routine so that he could avoid Bonde although and decided to have breakfast in the kitchens before heading out to feed his winged friends. He managed to time it so that the Professor was running around the other side of the lake when he left and could make it back to the castle before she completed the lap.

He didn't come to the great hall in the mornings or evenings and took alternative routes to get to the rest of his classes that specifically avoided the DADA class room and the staff room. Dom and Melissa seemed a little concerned by his sudden desire to be even more anti-social and tried to talk to him a few times but he just lied and said he found it much easier to concentrate when he was away from everyone else.

Scorpius delivered the message to Professor Bonde before the next lesson that Albus wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be attending. Since no letter from Bonde or any other teacher arrived enquiring about his 'illness', Albus assumed the she had gotten the message and shouldn't expect him to return any time soon.

The days passed with the usual goings on. No great battles against giant snakes or dementors. Most of the excitement and gossip came in the form of public break-ups or magical accidents. It wasn't until the first Quidditch game of the year began to draw closer that everyone's attention shifted. And on the day it was to be played, everyone's school uniforms had added red and yellow or green and silver decor.

"You gonna watch the match?" Scorpius asked him.

"Probably, there is isn't much else to do, is there?" Albus said.

"Still wish I was playing," Scorpius said wistfully.

Despite being an excellent flyer, he hadn't been allowed on the house team for a verity of pathetic and untrue reasons. The real reason was because his last name was _Malfoy_.

"I still don't get why they endorse it so much. You'd think after two wizarding wars about segregation and elitism they'd be trying to promote unity and equality. Instead they allow the old rivalries to play out in front of the whole school with the added bonus of serious injuries and violence," Albus said thoughtfully. "If that doesn't teach houses to hate each other, I don't know what does."

"You say that like it's ever going to change," Scorpius snorted.

"Change is not something wizarding world is good at," he sighed. "Don't look at me like that!" Albus had suddenly snapped at one of the statues that had turned to look at him again.

"They are definitely getting nosier," Scorpius scowled.

The two walked on but only got a few feet before something hit Albus in the back of the head. He reached up to feel what it was and his hand came back covered in dark blue ink. For a split-second he thought the statue might have done it, but ink pellets were often Peeves' weapon of choice. But when he turned around it wasn't the poltergeist either.

Aiden Finch-Flechley and a few other Gryffindor's (none of them Rose) were laughing as they walked away. Yep, the Quidditch spirit was definitely in the air.

"What a mug," Scorpius growled and used his wand to siphon off some of the ink. "I thought it was Peeves. At least you don't get into trouble when you jinx him."

"Yeah, well…"

Something, a bit like bucket of cold water seemed to wash though Albus's insides. He was replaying all the memories he could at high speed trying to locate something specific, but it wasn't there.

"Scorp…when was the last time you saw Peeve's?"

"Err, I don't know. He made a big racket outside the great hall on the first day."

"When was the last time you saw the Bloody Baron? And as we're on the subject, when was the last time you saw any of the ghosts?" Albus asked very steadily.

"Err…" Scorpius clearly couldn't remember seeing any of them either.

In fact, Albus couldn't remember seeing a single one of them since the first day back. He needed the find Filtch. He saw more of the ghosts than anyone else in the school but if he hadn't seen them either, it could mean only one thing.

All the ghosts were gone.


	7. Slytherin Stinks

Albus and Scorpius managed to track down Filtch a few minutes later who they found cleaning up torn pieces of curtain off the floor (probably the aftermath of a fanged frisbee) while grumbling death threats to no one in particular.

"Mr. Filtch," Albus said causing him to turn slowly and immediately assess him with a suspicious look.

"Potter, Malfoy, wadda' you want?" he wheezed.

"When was the last time you saw any of the ghosts?"

"Why? What's he done now?"

"We're not just talking about Peeves, I mean any of the ghosts because we haven't seen a single one," Scorpius said quickly.

"Well, that's the point isn't it. He doesn't want you ta see him till he strikes!" the caretaker growled.

"Stop obsessing about the damn poltergeist for two seconds and think! Any of the ghosts, Nearly-headless Nick, the Bloody Baron, any of them?"

One of Filtch's eyes half-closed and he looked towards the ceiling clearly deep in thought.

"Alright, he's trying to think which means we'll be here for hours," Albus huffed. "I'll go find a teacher and ask them, you check Moaning Myrtles bathroom."

"Good idea. Dom and Melissa are probably down at the pitch already, I'll find them after I check the bathroom and ask if they've seen the Grey lady," Scorpius nodded.

"Alright, I'll meet you there," Albus said dashing off down the corridor while Scorpius went the other way.

Albus actually felt slightly guilty about not noticing the absence of the ghosts sooner. True, he wasn't exactly friends with any of them and with the exception of Peeves, they had taken an oath not to disrupt the classes or the students study times. Of course, one of the classes, History of Magic, was taught by a ghost. But it was doubtful anyone would report his absence or even notice that he was missing since most of the students either slept through his class or just ignored him completely.

If they had arrived in the classroom to find it without the spectral teacher, they would have counted it as a blessing and definitely kept it to themselves for fear that another teacher would take over the coma inducing subject.

Albus got lucky a few minutes later. Professor Longbottom was just exiting his office, wearing a red and yellow scarf, no doubt on his way to support his former house at the match.

"Professor!" Albus yelled to get his attention.

"Albus," he smiled, "coming to watch the match?"

"Probably, just a quick question. Have you seen any of the ghosts?"

"The ghosts, err, probably. I mean they're always floating around somewhere," he shrugged.

Alright, maybe this wasn't so lucky. Neville, despite a huge improvement, was still notorious for his tremendously bad memory.

"Well, that's the thing. They're not. I haven't seen any of them since the start of term and neither has Scorpius and from what little I could gather, neither has Filtch," he said quickly.

"Well, the ghosts can't just leave the grounds, Albus. That would sort of defeat the whole purpose of haunting it in the first place," Neville reasoned. "A few of them sometimes wonder into the forest or the lake, or maybe they are celebrating someone's death day party?"

"That wouldn't stop Peeves from terrorising the students, but he's missing in action as well," Albus stated.

"Hmm," Neville's eyebrows furled and he looked slightly troubled. "Okay, I'll have a word with a few of the other teachers and see if they know anything. Most of them are probably down at the pitch."

Of course, not even the teachers would let a little thing like education interrupt quidditch. Seemed like there was nothing more to do but head down there and see if anyone at the game could shed light of the mass disappearance.

Unfortunately, his mind vault didn't hold an extensive knowledge base on ghosts. He knew that they were imprints of departed souls that were tied to a specific place. Usually it was the place that they had originally died but often ghosts found themselves drawn to places of extremely high magical energy such as Hogwarts. But, 'tied' was the key word there. Even though they had free reign of the grounds, they couldn't just leave and glide into Hogsmead whenever they wanted.

The weather was overcast but wasn't raining and there was still some warmth in the air. As Albus walked through the courtyard, he spotted Headmaster Torrens strolling along by himself, heading for the exit onto the grounds. He was certainly a more reliable person to ask than Neville.

"Headmaster!" Albus' mouth was open be he hadn't said a word. That voice came from someone else and immediately, the anger than had subsided began to rise again.

Professor Bonde, still looking as cruelly beautiful as ever, hurried up to the Headmaster. Albus took cover behind a pillar where he couldn't see them but still hear them very clearly.

"Professor Bonde, coming to watch the match?" Torrens asked happily.

"Wouldn't miss it. But I was hoping to have a private word with you. The gargoyles outside your office told me I'd just missed you," she said politely.

"Of course, what can I do for you?"

"Well…I'm – I'm not really sure how to broach this…umm…It's about Albus Potter," she said awkwardly.

Albus' guts clenched up. She was about to start asking those dreaded questions.

"Ah, I see. I assumed that your cousin would have informed you about him," Torrens said thoughtfully.

"She did. She said that the spark of magic inside him never quite grew into a flame and that I shouldn't ask him to perform any complex spells or enchantments," she explained.

That was certainly one of the nicer ways of putting it. The one he usually heard was that he was barely more than a squib in terms of magical ability.

"Yes, it's truly unfortunate. He's a part of such a huge and powerful wizarding family that includes just about every kind of blood status imaginable, yet the gift seems to have glanced at him only in passing. The Potter and Weasley family represents so much of what we want the wizarding world to be, in some ways I'm glad he was born into it. I imagine his life would have been far more difficult with less understanding people around him," Torrens said sadly.

That much was true. Despite the shift in wizarding society that had taken place in the years following the war, some out there still believed that their pureblood made them better than others. If Albus had been born into one of those families, he probably would have been exiled.

"I agree. But that's not what I wanted to talk about," Bonde said clearly.

"Oh?"

"Did you know that Albus is an Occulmens?" she asked bluntly.

There was a pause then Torrens said; "I did not know that," his voice sounded surprised and concerned. "But, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. The Malfoy's have always had a natural talent when it comes to Occulmens. I hear Draco mastered it when he was sixteen and I would be willing to bet that he passed his knowledge onto Scorpius who in turn, passed it onto Albus."

"Albus…well, he sort of…caught me off guard and I just…reacted," she said sheepishly. "I know I shouldn't have done it, but, I tried to use Legillimency on him, and he blocked me out."

"I imagine Legillimency and Occulmency have become second nature to you by now. All of your opponent's trying to use it against you, you trying to use it against them," Torrens said without judgement.

 _Bollocks! Breathing is second nature but that doesn't mean you run around trying to suck the air out of other people's lungs!_ Albus thought angrily.

"He was furious and he hasn't been back to my class since," she said, actually sounding ashamed.

"He's boycotting your class?" Torrens growled. "I won't allow that. I'll have a word with him."

"No, no, please don't. It was my mistake, I need to make peace with him," she said hastily.

A professional fighter wants to make peace. _Yeah, right!_

"Alright. That probably would be best."

"It's just…I have been forced out before, many times actually. Some of the other duellists were very good at it but with Albus…it was different," she said seemingly confused.

"How so?"

"When you get forced out, it's like being yanked or pushed backwards. With Albus, it was like flying at full speed on a Nimbus Eclipse as slamming into a concrete wall. I never encountered a barrier that strong before and for a second…I got a very strange image of…well, it looked like a bank vault."

Albus heart skipped a beat. She had seen it?! She had seen his mind vault, that was impossible!

"A bank vault?" Torrens repeated.

"Yeah. I never heard of an Occulmens barrier having a visual representation before. I didn't even think it could do that. You're supposed to clear all the thoughts from your mind so they become much more difficult to access," she explained.

"That's certainly the method I learned," Torrens said also sounding very confused. "Perhaps you should speak with Scorpius Malfoy about this?" he suggested.

"I won't go talking to his best friend behind his back. I need to apologize to Albus and maybe he'll explain it to me," she stated firmly.

"I wouldn't hold out hope. Professor McGonagall told me that Albus was a very private boy from the day he arrived and he's become even more so after –"

Torrens cut himself off before he said anything else but it was too late.

"After what?"

"I'm sorry Professor, I'm not at liberty to say," he said making sure she knew he wouldn't be answering anymore questions.

Not that it mattered. Albus could tell that the seed of curiosity was already planted. Now he really needed to stay away from her. He didn't want to hear an apology from her, unless she was in nothing but her underwear when she gave it. If she was going to start questioning him about his mind vault thinks would get awkward very quickly. He had arrived at that castle determined to ride out his final year while keeping a low profile but she certainly wasn't making it easy.

"Ah, Professor Torrens," Neville's voice interrupted his thoughts and he saw him walk over to the other two from behind his hiding spot.

"Neville, something wrong?"

"I think so. Something very concerning has been brought to my attention. It seems that the ghosts have…well, vanished."

"What do mean, vanished?"

Now that Neville was relaying the information he wanted to there was no need for Albus to stay. He slung his bag full of books over his shoulder and slipped away quietly then began heading for the quidditch field.

Even though he was still angry with her, he couldn't help feeling a little bit pleased with himself. Her comment about how he'd 'caught her off guard' was probably the greatest compliment he'd ever received. She was the duelling champion of the wizarding world after all and he doubted many people had ever managed to catch her off guard, but he was now one of them.

That smugness vanished as he rounded a corner and found himself face to face with Aiden Finch-Fletchly and some of his Gryffindor friends. They were probably on their way to the changing rooms to get into their quidditch gear. The match would be starting in about half an hour.

"Potter," he grinned wickedly. Rose was probably already getting ready as she always did so he didn't have to behave himself now. "Where's your boyfriend?"

"Probably snogging your girlfriend," Albus shrugged.

"As if she'd ever touch him," he spat. "Even the Slytherin quidditch team wouldn't let him play."

"Their loss."

"Our gain. You know we've flattened your team the four years in a row, right?" he laughed.

"I don't really follow quidditch anymore," he said simply.

"Why not? It's easy, just imagine that your bag is the quaffle," Aiden said and with a jerk of his wand, Albus' bag shot off his shoulder and began levitating about ten feet in the air. Albus didn't even try to grab it, he knew that Aiden was waiting for him to start jumping up and down like an idiot. "Now imagine that that window on Gryffindor tower is the goal post."

With another flick of his wand the bag soared upward, higher and higher before plonking itself down on the windowsill of the tower, with the strap caught on one of the little ornamental spikes.

"Goal! Ten points to Gryffindor! See how easy it is?" Aiden smiled while his friends sniggered. "Don't worry, just grab a broom, fly up and…oh, no, wait. Isn't your record for staying on a broom about five seconds?"

"Thirty-three," Albus corrected while grinding his teeth.

"Oh, yeah, and didn't you dislocate your shoulder or something?"

"Probably could have stuck the landing better," Albus conceded while fighting the urge to break Aiden's nose.

"Never mind. Just use a summoning spell to – oh, no, you can't do that either, can you?" he grinned causing his friends to laugh even harder. "Oh, well, spos you'll just have to climb up and get it. Have fun, might see you at the match…falling off the tower and breaking your legs."

The Gryffindor's turned and walked away towards the pitch yelling "Slytherin stinks!" along the way.

 _Terrific._ Albus glanced up at the tower where his bag dangled one hundred and twenty-two feet, four inches above his head. His eyes scanned the stone walls, the roof of the adjoined building and the angle of the connection. _Hmm…_

Twenty-five minutes later, Albus arrived at the now packed quidditch pitch with his bag and a small smirk on his face. He moved through the crowd of people already cheering their favoured team for the match. Scorpius wasn't had to spot, he was the only person with that particular colour of white-blond hair in the whole school unless you counted the greying areas of Slughorn's moustache. He was standing with Dom and Melissa, talking in raised voices over the roars of the crowd.

"Where have you been?" he asked when Albus made it over to them.

"Had to grab my bag," he shrugged. "The headmaster knows now, he'll probably investigate."

"I think you guys are right," Dom said. "We haven't seen the Grey Lady since the start of term."

"And Myrtle isn't in her bathroom," Scorpius added.

"This is very strange," Melissa worried.

"Why the hell would they all just up and leave?" Scorpius asked.

"No idea. I didn't think they could," Albus yelled as the cheers grew louder.

Both teams flew out onto the pitch and hovered in mid-air waiting for the balls to be released. Aiden shot Albus a very angry and confused look when he was he had somehow retrieved his bag. Albus just smiled back.

He was too busy trying to come up with scenarios that would prompt the ghosts to leave the castle or debating whether or not to hear Bondes apology to pay attention to the match. After what he had overheard, she did seem genuinely sorry for what she'd done but on the other hand, he could tell she wanted to know about what she'd seen. She wanted to know about his mind vault and Scorpius was the only other person in the world that knew it existed.

He was thinking back to their first meeting in the forest. She had come to the school knowing that he was a substandard wizard but had been perfectly pleasant to him all the same. She hadn't shown any signs of judgement or distain and the more he thought about it, the more he realized that she must have been quite nervous to suddenly step into a teaching position.

Maybe he was being too hard on her. Maybe he should tell her about the mind vault.

A huge wave of cheers and applause brought him out of his thoughts just in time to see that Aiden had caught the snitch and won the game for Gryffindor. Albus had fully expected Slytherin to lose and wasn't disheartened by it. Especially since he had already arranged a little surprise for them as retaliation for what Aiden had done before the match.

He, Scorpius, Dom and Melissa made their way back up to the castle with the hundreds of other students, many of whom were still cheering the Gryffindor victory.

"Urg, we're gonna have to listen to this for weeks," Scorpius groaned.

"Oh, you never know, maybe this victory will finally teach the Gryffindor's some humility," Albus grinned.

Scorpius saw the mischievousness behind Albus's green eyes and immediately became a little excited. "What did you do?"

"Me? Not a thing. I'm law abiding citizen," he said happily.

"Albus."

He stopped in his tracks. There was that voice again. He turned slowly to see Professor Bonde standing there, a soft expression on her face. Her brilliant blue eyes were locked on him in such a way that she seemed to be completely oblivious to anyone else around her.

"Can we talk?" she asked quietly.

For a second the impulse to say 'no' and walk away almost won out but instead he nodded and followed her away from the crowd.

"I want to apologise," she said when they were far enough away that others couldn't hear them. "I had no right to do what I did and I'm sorry."

Albus said nothing and struggled not to look at her but when he finally did, he knew he was about to forgive her.

"I'm sorry about your father," he said gingerly.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I don't really talk about it much and when you brought it up…I reacted badly."

"I think I should have realized that we actually have something in common. We've both been stuck in the spotlight for a while and it's had to have any real privacy in there. You've obviously got things you'd rather keep to yourself and so do I. Maybe instead of ambushing each other about those things, we should just ask," he said calmly.

Her expression immediately improved.

"Couldn't agree more," she smiled. "On that subject –"

"I call it my mind vault," he said anticipating her question. "I overheard you talking to Professor Torrens about it."

"A mind vault?"

"You ever heard of the Method of Loci?" Albus asked.

"No," she shook her head.

"I'm not surprised, it was invited by the ancient Greeks about twenty-two hundred years ago," he said. "It's a method for creating a mind palace –"

"You have a mind palace?!" she suddenly blurted, looking completely shocked.

"You know what it is?"

"I've read about it. I've never actually met someone that could do it!"

She was actually looking quite in awe of him and Albus could feel heat blooming in his cheeks. He half expecting her to either be confused or worried when he told her, he certainly wasn't expecting her to start _'fan girling'_.

"Well, you combined it with Occulmens and it becomes something a bit different. That's what you saw."

She paused to contemplate what he'd just told her before continuing. "So, you can remember anything, everything?"

"Not everything. You still have to pick what you remember and what you don't. If I don't find it very interesting, I don't usually store it away. But, yeah, I've got a few compendiums," he said modestly. He wasn't going to brag about the size of the vault.

"Amazing. Now I get what you meant when you said you listen to music in your head. I'm guessing you haven't told anyone else about this?"

"You and Scorp are the only ones that know. People around here already think I'm a freak, no need to give them more ammunition," he said glumly.

"I'm very glad that you've confided in me, Albus. I won't repeat it to anyone, I promise," she said sincerely.

"How about returning the favour?" Albus dared to ask.

"What do you mean?"

"Tell me something about yourself, something I won't repeat to anyone else," he said trying to sound confidant.

"W-well, I don't –" she fumbled, clearly a bit unnerved by his challenge.

"Not about the tattoo, I already know about that," he teased.

"What?!" she shrieked in horror.

"You have a tattoo on your right thigh to commemorate your victory in the tournament. It's clearly new because you were itching it the morning we first met and there was a tub of skin cream on your desk that you're using to treat it. I haven't told anyone about that. Aloe Vira is good for getting rid of itchy skin by the way," he grinned, very pleased with the fact that he'd once again caught her off guard.

She looked caught between impressed and annoyed. She straightened up with a boldness growing in her expression. "Alright then, Mr. Sleuth, when I was about your age…I was…a bit…larger than I am now."

"A bit?" Albus said sceptically.

"Alright, a lot," she admitted.

"A lot?" now it was disbelief.

"Fine! I was morbidly obese!" she cried. "I was teased about it a lot, I had very low self-esteem."

Albus had the expression of someone that had just witnessed a chicken give birth to a house. "You…were fat?"

"Yes. I took two painful years to drop a hundred eighty pounds, but I did it! Why do you think I run twelve miles every morning? I'm never going back to that!" she actually sounded a little bit panicked that she was admitting all this. There was a long pause between them where even the ambient noise seemed to suddenly stop. Then Albus spoke.

"Nah."

"Excuse me?"

"I don't believe you."

"What?! I'm telling the truth!" she said in a outrage high-pitched voice.

"You've never been fat, look at you! I'm not even sure you were actually born. You look more like you were brought to life from a marble statue crafted by angels," Albus blurted and immediately turned bright red.

Bonde was a little abashed by what he'd just said as well and quickly looked away. "Well…thank you. But I'm telling the truth. I had to lose a lot of weight before I even considered becoming an athlete and to tell you the truth, that work never ends."

"Still not buying it. But, I'll kept it to myself," he shrugged, trying to move away from what he'd just said.

"You know what, I'm going to show you a picture…if I can find one. I think I burned most of them," she said.

"Convenient."

"You're unbelievable," she said with a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "I'll see you in the next lesson."

"See ya then," Albus grinned.

She began walking away but then suddenly stopped and turned back towards him.

"Are you going to Hogsmead next weekend?" she asked.

"Of course, any chance to get away from this place," he admitted.

"Meet me in the Three Broomsticks at two o'clock," she said making it sound like it wasn't a request.

"So, you can show me a picture?" he said amused at the idea.

"So, you can teach me how to build a mind palace," she corrected. "I know it's a bit of an odd request, seeing as I'm your teacher and I'm asking you to teach me something."

"A great man once said; _'A wise man can still learn from a fool's questions but a fool can't learn anything from a wise man's answers.'_ And, I don't think you're a fool," he said.

"Who said that?"

"Someone even you couldn't beat in a fight. Bruce Lee," he said proudly.

"I like it," she said happily.

"You really want a mind palace?"

"Who wouldn't?"

"And this has nothing to do with your competitive nature getting worked up because I can do something that you can't?" he said cheekily.

"No, of course not!" she said unconvincingly. "It's purely academic curiosity."

"Whatever you say, tubby," he grinned.

"Oh, I am never confiding in you again!" she said trying to sound angry but unable to hide her amusement.

"Two o'clock. Bring a map," Albus said.

"A map?"

"Yeah, a map, any map."

"Okay," she said looking a little confused.

"See ya then," Albus said giving her one last smile before returning to the castle.

Now he really felt good about himself. This had to be something worthy of the Guinness Book of Records. One of the most powerful and skilled witches in the entire world was asking him, the 'Slytherin Squib', to teach her how to do something. Part of him wanted to send an owl to the Daily Prophet so that they could proclaim how monumental this was, but he wasn't actually going to do that. The rest of him felt as if this was something very personal and private that should be kept just between them. And Scorpius of course, since he already knew about Albus's mind vault.

As he made his way back to the Slytherin common room he started to think that the Three Broomsticks might not be the best place to discuss the potential construction of a mind palace but he could always change the venue later.

Scorpius was waiting for him at the base of the huge open shaft where two dozen moving staircases were shifting around about his head.

"You look like you're in a much better mood than the last time you two spoke," he commented as Albus approached. "I'm guessing you made peace?"

"We did more than that. I'll tell you in the common room," he smiled.

"SLYTHERIN STINKS! SLYTHERIN STINKS!"

The chanting was coming from above them as the Gryffindor team and their follows walked up one of the staircases that had locked into place in front of the portal to their common room.

"It never ends," Scorpius sighed.

"The best part is that they don't yet fully appreciate the irony of what they're saying," Albus grinned.

"What do you mean?"

"Just watch."

They both stood there are watched the dozens of Gryffindor's disappear behind the portal. The chanting and cheering died down and vanished completely as soon as the portal sealed up again.

Albus and Scorpius remained patient, quietly standing there for a minute or two before the unmistakable sound echo of explosions sounded out, as if someone was letting off fireworks inside the Gryffindor common room. A moment later the portal burst open and students came charging out followed by a noxious looking green cloud of vapour. They were coughing and yelling and some were falling over each other as they scrambled for fresh air.

One of them actually darted to the banister of the stairs and threw up over the side which was followed by a horrified shriek from below. Aiden, Rose and the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team emerged from the gas looking like they were going to pass out for the pungent smell of rotten eggs and sewage. If it hadn't been happening in the middle of a school for magic, anyone would think that armed police were assaulting Gryffindor tower with tear gas.

It seemed as though Slytherin's _'stink'_ had followed them home.

Scorpius was laughing so hard that he was having trouble breathing. Eventually he managed to calm down enough to ask Albus; "How the hell did you do that?!"

"Me? Sorry, Scorp, but you can't _'prove'_ that I did anything," Albus smiled knowingly.

At that moment, both Aiden and Rose spotted Albus and Scorpius watching them and their faces filled with cold fury. They hurried away from the scene of the crime before the Gryffindor students could attempt to lynch them.

Despite the concerning disappearance of the ghosts, this had turned out to be one of Albus's better days at Hogwarts.


	8. Markers

**MARCH 13** **th** **1998 – Outskirts of Swindon**

Heavy breathing filled the abandon, broken down warehouse that sat just off the country road heading towards the city. Although the rest of the industrial estate was still in use, the business that had once occupied that particular warehouse had long since gone bankrupt and no one had ever brought the premises.

In the centre of the open room was a man, bound to a chair with his hands cuffed behind his back. On a small table next to him was his wand, broken in half and occasional spitting a few feeble sparks, like a blown fuse box. His black robes were filthy with dirt and blood. His face was bleeding heavily from the beating he'd been receiving for the last half hour.

"You know," the squib said, walking over to him carrying a gas cannister. "You're the third Death Eater I've questioned that doesn't seem to know anything. This leaves three possibilities."

He put the canister down on the floor next to the bloodied Death Eater and began attaching a tube to it.

"One; your master is in the habit of recruiting complete imbeciles, two; you're not nearly as important as you think you are or three; you do know something and you're determined to keep it from me. Personally, I'm hoping it's the third one."

He connected the other side of the tube to a blow torch and fired it up. The concentrated blue flame at the end of it immediately caught the Death Eaters attention, his eyes went wide with fear.

"When my superiors told me to do this sort of thing before, I did so with great reluctance. After all, that was a war we weren't supposed to be involved with, in a country we weren't supposed to even be in. But with you lot, I've got to admit, I'm rather enjoying this," he smiled and used the torch to light a cigarette.

"Now, I know you probably know next to nothing about muggle equipment such as this," he waved the blow torch in front of him. "But even you must know what happens when a two-thousand-degree flame touches human flesh. So, anything you want to share?"

The Death Eater was breathing rapidly now, his fixed to the blue flame.

"No? Okay. We'll start with your toes, then work our way up."

He began lowering the flame to the Death Eater's exposed feet.

"Wait! Wait! Stop! Rookwood!" the Death yelled.

"Augustus Rookwood?"

"No, his nephew, Colden. He kept bragging about some secret mission that the Dark Lord had given him. He said something about Dalston, I think it's outside of Newcastle," he spluttered.

"Dalston's outside of Carlisle, you moron," the squib corrected.

"Right, right, that one."

"Well, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" he smiled and turned off the blow torch.

The Death Eater let out a sigh of relief. It was the last thing he ever did because a second later the Squib had pulled a silenced pistol from his jacket, pointed it at his head and pulled the trigger.

 **October 20** **th** **2024 - Hogwarts**

Professor Flitwick emerged from the green cloud of gas that was lingering inside the Gryffindor common room with a bobblehead charm cast, making him look a bit like a miniature astronaut. A large crowed had gathered around to watch the excitement, which included Albus and Scorpius. They knew the Gryffindor's wouldn't dare try anything while so many teachers and other students were around.

"It's definitely a Weasley product because none of the usual spells are working," Flitwick said after popping the charm on his head.

"Neville, floo George Weasley in Diagon Alley, ask him how to get rid of this stink," Torrens ordered. Neville nodded and dashed away.

The headmaster and the other teachers were keeping a healthy distance from the common room entrance. Professors Bonde was with them and kept glancing over at Albus with a knowing look in her eyes.

"I'm telling you sir, it was Potter!" Aiden whined to Professor Hakkaman, head of Gryffindor house.

"I heard you the first time Mr. Finchley," he said rolling his eyes, "explain to me exactly how Mr. Potter managed to enter the Gryffindor common room and plant the Bogbombs in the first place and perhaps we'll start to consider that this isn't just some wild accusation."

"Well…he…err…stole the password!"

Professor Hakkaman turned the slightly askew portrait of the Fat Lady who was now sporting a clothes peg on her nose. "My Lady, did anyone enter the Gryffindor Common room just prior to the quidditch match?"

"Absolutely not. Besides, I'd never allow a Slytherin student to enter even if he did have the password unless he was accompanied by a Gryffindor student or teacher," she said pompously.

"Miss Weasley," the professor turned to Rose, "am I to understand that your uncle in still in possession of his famous invisibility cloak?"

"As far as I know," Rose admitted. She too seemed certain that Albus was responsible but couldn't think how he actually managed it.

"Then, it would seem the only ones capable of this wanton act of smelly vandalism are your fellow Gryffindor's," Hakkamen said.

"Why would we gas our own common room?"

"I have no idea what young people consider funny these days. It seems to change from week to week," he shrugged.

This was funny. Albus was struggling to keep the pride and amusement off his face which became increasing difficult every time Bonde looked at him. She knew he was responsible but also knew she couldn't prove it, especially now that they had established Legilimency was useless against him.

"Make him drink Veritaserum!" Aiden demanded.

"Mr. Finchley, the use of Veritaserum on anyone, especially an underage student is illegal without a court order from the ministry or magic," Torrens reminded sternly.

"Rose, write to you mum!"

"Don't be absurd! My mother has much more important things to be doing with her time," Rose snapped.

"Quite right, Miss Weasley," Hakkaman agreed.

This was going to play havoc with Rose's brain. He knew she wouldn't rest until she'd figured out how he did it but at that moment, she was completely stumped.

A few minutes later, Neville returned with instructions on how to dissipate the gas and soon after the crowd of people was dispelled by the teachers. Everyone went back to their daily lives but the speculation about how Albus had managed it ran wild. One of the many ideas floating around was that Albus had used Polyjuice potion to enter under the guise of a Gryffindor student but was shot down by the Fat Lady who told them that left the common room, not entered for a solid hour before the match. The crazier theories included that Albus was actually an Animagus that could transform into a insect and had entered that way but how would he have hauled the Bogbombs in with him?

All of them made Albus and Scorpius chuckle. What none of them realized was that Albus had figured out several different ways on how to gain access to every common room in that school over a year ago. They both remained wary though. The Gryffindor retaliation was probably being planned by the entire house, Rose included.

A few days later they were leaving their potions lesson when Scorpius decided to try and mend some fences with Rose. He loved watching the Gryffindor's get some comeuppance but he didn't like Rose being angry with him, especially since he'd had nothing to do with the gas attack.

"Any luck with the Room of Requirement, Rose?" he asked polity.

She completely ignored him.

"Oh, come on, Rose. What happened to innocent until proven guilty?" Albus asked.

She whipped around and looked very tempted to go for her wand. "I know it was you, Albus Potter! And I'm going to prove it!"

"Well, if you know it was me, why are you angry at him?"

Rose looked Scorpius up and down with a slight frown. "I'm sure he helped you somehow."

"I was down at the quidditch pitch. Ask Dom and Melissa," Scorpius said defensively.

Rose said nothing, clearly trying to find a way around his alibi.

"Scorpius had nothing to do with it, Rose. If you attack him for something he didn't do, it'll make you the bad guy, err, girl," Albus warned.

"I'm not planning to attack anyone," she stated. "But don't feel too safe. I got an owl this morning. James and Fred are coming up for the Hogsmead visit and your brother hasn't forgotten about you stealing his wand."

With a display of almost regal snootiness, she flipped her hair and marched away with her chin held high.

"Bugger," Scorpius groaned.

"Come with me," Albus said and they quickly headed towards the DADA classroom.

If they were quick they could catch Professor Bonde before her next class arrived. When they got there, a few of the younger students were milling around outside, eager to be the first ones there. Albus and Scorpius walked past them and knocked on the door.

"Enter," Bonde called out.

They went inside and closed the door behind them.

"Hi, can we change the venue of our appointment to the Hog's Head?" Albus asked quickly.

"Err, I suppose. Why?" she asked.

"Because my brother has decided to come to Hogsmead and we should avoid him like the plague," Albus said in all seriousness.

"And your worried he might be looking for some pay back because you stole his wand?" she speculated.

"Actually, it's more for your benefit," Albus admitted.

"My benefit?"

"Yes, I'm afraid years of having girls swoon over him because he's the son of the great Harry Potter have left James with a very inflated ego and he set his sights on seducing you the second he found out you were coming to teach here," Albus explained bluntly.

"I'm flattered, Albus, but I'm fully capable or taking care of myself," she said simply.

"But, he probably will try to hex us at some point. He never misses an opportunity to do that," Scorpius added. "I remember once he tried to transfigure me into an actual snake but human transfiguration is really difficult so I only ended up with a forked tongue for a few weeks which wasn't so bad until a bunch of muggles saw me and started saying…err, what were they calling me again?"

"The Antichrist."

"Yeah, that's it. I was thirteen at the time," Scorpius finished a little pink in the cheeks.

"He sounds charming," she said dryly.

"Just thought I'd warn you," Albus said.

"Consider me warned. Sorry, gents but my next class is arriving," she said politely giving them the signal to leave.

"Right, see you at the Hog's head," Albus smiled and the two of them departed.

The weekend of the Hogsmead visit arrived and while the weather remained pretty clear, there was a notable drop in the temperature as an artic blast came down from the north. It was still a little early for snow but the windows were frosted and the frozen grass crunched under their shoes as they made their way down to the village.

Albus had donned a casual pair of jeans, a white shirt and dark green jacket. He hadn't even bothered to try and do anything with his hair. It's not like this was a date or anything.

If only it was a date…

He snuffed out his own pining and focused. He had never taught anyone to do anything before and wasn't really sure how to even go about it. Just about every other student from the third year up were walking in large groups towards the village and the streets were already packed by the time Albus and Scorpius arrived.

They milled around a bit, checking out the new items on display in the shop windows before heading off to the Hog's head. They passed the Three Broomsticks which was completely packed solid with students and adults alike. Loud conversations and laughter came from inside and just getting near to it, they feel the warmth coming from inside. But they weren't stopping there today.

They continued down until they reached the Hog's head. It had improved quite a bit since the war. The pub had gained a bit of fame because it had been the exit point for the evacuated underage students and entry point for the Order of the Phoenix to join the battle. No to mention, Albus Dumbledore's only living relative, Aberforth, ran the place.

Although it still wasn't as well maintained at the Three Broomsticks, it had never the less lost a lot of the dinginess and shady customers it once had. And it was a lot warmer than outside. Albus and Scorpius entered and grabbed a couple of stools at the bar.

"Potter, Malfoy," Aberforth grunted from behind the bar.

"Hey, Abe," Albus smiled.

"Still avoid the general population I see. What'll you have?"

"Mead, two please," Scorpius said.

Aberforth stopped and glared at them. "You seventeen?"

Scorpius sighed. "In two weeks," he admitted.

Aberforth just shrugged and started pouring out two mugs for them. He never was a stickler for the rules. It was one of the reasons they liked him.

He set the two mugs of mead down in front of him while Scorpius paid him a few silver coins. Albus was just reaching for his drink when it suddenly slid down the bar and began to levitate. A second later, a female hand materialized around the mug, followed by the rest of Professor Bonde. She brought the mug up to her nose and gave it a sniff before handing it back to Albus.

"Just making sure there's no fire whisky in it," she said with a little grin. Apparently, the teachers were now aware of what caused Melissa's unusual arrival to the school.

"Did you disillusion yourself to come in here?" he asked looking surprised.

"Yeah, there's a reporter for Witch Weekly snooping around near the Three Broomsticks. That magazine has been hounding me non-stop since I won the tournament," she groaned.

"And I bet they're not interested in your career?" Scorpius asked.

"No. All they want to know is which quidditch players I'd consider dating and what my idea of a romantic weekend getaway would be," she huffed.

Albus just smiled. Although Bonde was definitely not what you'd call 'girly' she wasn't a tom boy either. And she looked amazing in her casual clothes as well. She was wearing a pair of tight black jeans, a dark blue jumper that looked like it was made of very thin material and a small black leather jacket. She looked as much of muggle as Albus did. She had also decided to wear her black and red streaked hair down which was, as ever, perfectly styled.

"Oh, Abe, Professor Alexandria Bonde, Professor, Aberforth Dumbledore," Albus said making the introductions.

"Oh, it's an honour," Bonde said extending her hand.

"I wish people would stop saying that. I didn't bloody do anything," he grumbled but shook her hand regardless.

"You did enough, Abe," Scorpius said simply.

"Congratulations on your win," Abe said. "Drink?"

"Just water, thank you."

"Not having a drink? It's Saturday, you know," Albus reminded.

"Do you know how much sugar there is in butterbeer or that mead?" she warned.

"Yes, lovely, lovely sugar," Albus winked.

"You think your charming, do you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I think I'm adorable," he said flashing her a grin.

"Maybe, I should confiscate that mead," she said drawing out her wand.

"I'm joking, I'm joking. You bring a map?" he asked changing the subject and defending his mead.

"Yep. Still not sure why," she said flicking her wand and causing an old rolled up parchment to appear in front of her on the bar.

"Think of it as a visual aid," he said.

"Think you're going to need more than that," Scorpius remarked. "I tried to learn how to do this once. I ended up with a headache and a nosebleed and that's it."

"Because you don't understand the basics," Albus said. "I've tried to explain it to you."

"Yeah, that's what gave me the headache," Scorpius quipped.

"I'll tell you if my head starts to hurt. What are the basics," she said straightening up like a good student.

Albus glanced around to make sure they weren't being eavesdropped on. Aberforth had wondered down the bar and was now talking to a very old, balding wizard with spectacles about something and most of the other occupants looked like they were too drunk to pay attention. One of them had fallen asleep in his chair.

"Alright. A mind palace doesn't grant you any extra knowledge or intelligence. It's all about memory. A before you can learn to permanently store memories, you have to understand how they work," he felt strange being the educator but Bonde attention was fixed on him so he pressed on. "Contrary to popular belief, memories have nothing to do with your senses. You don't remember how delicious a birthday cake was because you can remember how it tasted. You remember it because of how it made you feel while eating it."

Bonde eyes narrowed at him a little. Maybe he should have used a that didn't have thousands of calories it in.

"The things we remember don't stay with us because of all the tiny details, they stay with us because they evoke an emotional response. All memories are based in emotion, which is why they can sometimes be unreliable. That's why the details can become fudged over time, because those aren't really the parts that stay with you," he explained.

To his surprise, Bonde seemed to be getting more and more enraptured by what he said.

"Take out the map," he said and she quickly unrolled it across the bar. It was a very old atlas, not too different from the kind you'd find inside a muggle classroom but this one, in addition to having major cities and countries marked also had magical hotspots, such as the ministry of magic, Hogwarts and ironically, Hogsmead. Albus tapped his figure over Italy where the city of Rome was marked.

"Okay, let's say that you remember Rome because you visited the Sistine Chapel. You remember it because the first time you looked up and saw Michelangelo's ceiling and it just completely took your breath away. That is something you will never forget, but I bet you can tell me the name of the street you walked down to get to the Chapel. I bet you can't tell me if the guy taking the tickets had a moustache or not."

"I've never been to the Sistine Chapel," she admitted.

"Neither have I, it's just an example. You don't remember the street or the ticket guy because they don't cause an emotional stir inside you. But, those are the things you have to remember. Those little things that led you to the Chapel, are markers a long a road. If you can remember those markers, you can join the road anywhere and it will always lead you back to the Chapel," he said intently.

"So…you're not just remembering important things, but all the things that led up to that moment as well?" she asked, clearly having a bit of a struggle with the idea.

"Yes and no. Time is linear, well mostly, and because of that, the human mind often works in a linear format a too, but it doesn't have to. The human mind isn't bound by relativistic physics, it can go backwards, forwards, whatever. So, you don't necessarily have to remember everything leading up to a certain event. When the event happens, you can go back and think, what led me to this point? Those become your markers. Once you get hang of doing that, your mind will start automatically looking for markers and file them away without you even needing to do it. Then, you just find one of those markers and it'll lead you back to the event."

"And you can do that? Just subconsciously create these markers?" she asked looking impressed again.

"Yeah. But after a while, when you've created so many, it can start to get a bit jumbled. So, that is where the mind palace comes in. The mind palace is just a way of organizing the markers and the knowledge they lead to. As you know, mine is a vault. And inside the vault, I have different sections, for music, magic, muggle etc. The thing you saw isn't very special, it's just the protection around the information. Just like a vault in real life, the treasure is inside. Is this making any sense to you?" she asked with a small laugh.

"It is. It just…seems kind of impossible," she admitted.

"Take it slowly. Just practice on a few things, like this meeting. Think back, what path from the castle did you take to get here? Before that, back in your office, did you have a cup of tea or were you drinking that disgusting swamp water?"

"It's a complex antioxidant and it's excellent for muscle tone, I'll have you know," she stated proudly.

"Yeah, because you clearly need more muscles," Scorpius remarked sarcastically, nodding at the unmistakable bulge of her bicep.

"He's right you know, you could probably beat Hagrid in an arm wrestle," Albus agreed.

"I rather doubt that," she laughed. "So even little thinks like my wonderful health smoothie can be used as markers?"

"Of course, one connects to the other and another until you're back to the important stuff and because you've been focusing on the details to get there, you are still focusing on them when you arrive. Some people would probably disagree but training your mind to remember things objectively is extremely useful in my opinion."

"Because emotion can cloud the details?" she said.

"Exactly. I'm not saying you have to lock off all emotion, just be scientific. Once you've got the fact down, then you can feel something about them, but not before or the facts might be wrong," he said thoughtfully.

She looked at him with an amused but affectionate smile. "Albus Severus Potter, the Hogwarts philosopher."

"That's got a nice ring to it," Albus smiled.

The door of the Hog's head burst open. "Little brother!"

"And here is my executioner," Albus groaned into his mead.

James and Fred walked quickly across the pub to the bar. James push himself between Bonde and Albus while Fred nudged Scorpius aside so he could get as close to her as possible. They were both dressed in their finest and James looked as if he'd spent at least an hour painstakingly styling his hair.

"We've been looking for you everywhere! I heard there was a Bogbomb incident in the Gryffindor tower. Albus, have you been misbehaving again?" he said doing a mild impression of Hermione.

If James could be more of a hypocrite then he was already being, it might be considered an accomplishment considering the number of pranks he pulled during his time at the school. Except he got caught, all the time, and a hundred or so detentions hadn't dissuaded him from doing more. Fred was just grinning at Bonde with a dreamy look in his eyes.

"Well, Albus, aren't you going to introduce us?" he said before turning to Bonde. "I'm sorry, I thought I taught him better manners than this."

The extent of James's manners was that he stopped throwing handfuls of food at other people at the kitchen table when he was about five.

"Of course," Albus smiled dismally. "Professor Bonde, this is my brother, James Sirius Potter, the answer to the age-old question; What if a hamster on PCP could do magic?"

Bonde suddenly inhaled half her water up her nose and started coughing.

"And this is my cousin, Fred Weasley who like my brother was also born two years before me or rather, that's when he escaped from the lab. I'm pretty sure that he was a genetic experiment to combined carrot slices with an evil clown," Albus said in all seriousness.

Scorpius had turned bright red and was fighting to keep the laughter from bursting out while Bonde seemed to be using all her considerable will power to keep her face neutral but there seemed to be small drops of perspiration appearing on her forehead. Fred was still hypnotised by Bonde's beauty and just managed to say 'hi'. James on the other hand looked like he wanted to choke his brother to death right then and there but was restraining himself.

"Still stealing my jokes, Albus? You really should get some of your own," James said still trying to look confident and suave in front of Bonde.

"Living with them for the better part of seventeen years is a bit like getting on a plane and realizing there is a flamingo in the cockpit. You don't know why he's there, what he is contributing and he probably poses a threat to the aircraft but never the less, he's gonna take credit for the flying," Albus said smiling without amusement.

"You've never been on a plane!" James hissed when he couldn't think of a good retort. "I'm sorry, my brothers always been a bit rude. It's a great pleasure to meet you," he said taking her hand and bowing as if he were about to kiss it.

Bonde snapped her hand away before he even got close. "Nice to meet you," she said politely. "What brings you to Hogsmead?"

"Oh, you know, me and Fred aren't at school anymore but we still miss the place," James said a little overdramatically.

"Yeah, school place," Fred mumbled like a cave man. He now had a little bit of drool escaping his mouth.

"Alas, we all have to grow up. One day, even Albus will become a man…well, maybe," James said gravely.

He wanted so badly to slam his brothers head against the bar, but there was no way he was going to do that in front of a teacher.

"How are you finding teaching?" James asked, pushing in front of Albus so that he was obscured completely.

"It's a nice change of pace," she said simply.

"Can't be as exciting and a duelling tournament?"

"It's exciting in other ways. I like to think I'm learning as much from them as they are from me," she said happily bringing a smile to Albus's lips.

"Teaching is a very noble practice," James nodded thoughtfully. "I considered it myself a few times."

Scorpius snorted so hard that the whole pub could hear him. James did his best to pretend he hadn't heard him and went back to his sickening display of flirtation.

"But, much like yourself, I'm a natural born athlete," he said proudly. "Quidditch is something I can't stay away from. I can't see why anyone would, well, except Albus. Mum and Dad won't let him ride a broom anymore because they are afraid he'll kill himself."

Albus was squeezing his mug of mead so hard it was bound to explode any second.

"I've never been much of a flyer myself. Always preferred apparition," Bonde said airily.

"Oh, yeah, you'll be having apparition lessons after Christmas. That should be…interesting," James glanced at his brother, knowing full well that he would be incapable of apparition.

"I thought it was voluntary?"

"It is. But, I mean, any wizard worth his wand should be able to apparate. Right, Al?"

"I can certainly see the appeal of being able to disappear in a heartbeat," Albus growled.

"Exactly," James smiled triumphantly. "And the lessons are always a good laugh."

"Speaking of lessons. Albus, would mind if we continued our private lessons tomorrow night? I know you probably have better things to do than spend the evening alone with me, but I think we've made good progress and I'd like to continue," she said completely casually.

She had picked her words very carefully. They were completely innocent but what they implied was clearly setting James's brain on fire. He looked so utterly stunned at the idea of his brother being close to her that he probably considered it a crime against humanity.

"I defer to your wisdom professor," Albus said in an equally casual tone, just drive it home.

"Y-you're having private lessons…together?" James said after he managed to find his voice again.

"Yes. They've been very…illuminating," she smiled sweetly.

"What are they about," James asked, the colour draining from his face.

"Sorry, like I said they're _very_ private," she said, this time adding a clear sultriness to her voice. "Shall we head back?"

"Lead the way," Albus said happily. He and Scorpius finished their mead and jumped up from the stools.

Albus had been experiencing the urge to kiss Alexandria since the moment he met her but that was solely out of his massive attraction to her. This time he wanted to kiss her out of gratitude.

"Nice meeting you, James," she said walking past him. James was just left gapping and frozen on the spot. Fred only came back to his senses when he realized she wasn't in front of him anymore.

The three of them stepped outside into the cold air.

"You are definitely on my Christmas card for that," Scorpius said while laughing.

"Christmas card? I'm going to right you into my will!" Albus grinned.

Bonde smiled appreciatively. "You don't honestly think the you brother is the first narcissist to try and pick me up, do you? It gets old, very quickly and I can't even pretend to be gay because someone will run off and tell the newspapers so, I have to find other creative ways of getting rid of them. Unless they try to grope me, then I just blast them into next week," she stated.

"As well you should. Where you being serious back there? You want to continue this tomorrow night?" Albus asked.

"Yeah. Colour me intrigued, but I think the weekends are the only time I'm going to have free," she said.

"Fair enough. What time?"

"Err…let's say about –"

She was cut off by a sudden mixture of shrieking and hooting noises that seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. The three of them looked up to see hundreds of owls swooping overhead, all flying off in the same direction.

"Those are the Hogwarts owls! They're not carrying any letters!" Bonde yelled over the noise.

Huge flocks of multi-coloured dots littered the skies and seemed to be heading south, except that domesticated owls in the wizarding world didn't migrate.

"Where are they going?" Scorpius asked.

"They're leaving. Just like the ghosts!" Albus shouted.

"What the hell is going on?!"

"Something is very wrong at Hogwarts."


	9. Boil the Frog

It wasn't just the owls that had skedaddled. As Albus and Scorpius approached the school with Professor Bonde, they noticed the paddock next to Hagrid's hut was empty and it looked as if Buckbeak had chewed his way through the rope that usually kept him tethered there. The enormous care of magical creature's teacher stood there, a bit weepy at the sight of the empty paddock.

"Hagrid, have you been to check the Thestrals?" Albus asked.

"They're gone. All ov'em," he sniffed.

Hagrid didn't look at any of them. He just continued to stare at the empty space where the family of Hippogriffs once lived. Albus leaned into Bonde so he could whisper in her ear.

"Tell him to go check on the Centaurs," he said a low as possible.

"Why me?" she whispered back.

"Because, if you tell him, he'll do it," Albus said giving her a meaningful look.

Even now, with what was going on, he could help but realize that this was the closest he ever been to her. Close enough the he could actually feel the warmth of her skin.

She nodded and stepped forward. "Err, Professor. Perhaps you should check on the Centaurs. They might have an idea about why this is happening."

Hagrid sniffed again and rubbed his watery eyes on his sleeve. "Yeah, you're righ'. Good idea, Professor," he said composing himself. He grabbed his trusty crossbow and headed off towards the forest.

"You think the Centaurs are gone as well?" Scorpius asked.

"It's possible. If they're not, that might be a start," he said, almost to himself.

"What do you mean?" Bonde asked.

"We should check on the house elves," he said and started off towards the castle.

"Albus, what do you mean, 'it might be a start?'"

"What, oh, yeah," he said shaking his head slightly.

"He gets like this sometimes, when he's jumping back and forth between the vault," Scorpius explained, "he only makes sense to himself."

"If the Centaurs and house elves are still here it might give us an idea on a timeline," Albus said, his eyes darting about to different parts of the castle.

"What timeline?!" she demanded but he was ignoring her and everything else at that point.

"Yes, timeline. I just need to check on the…the thing," Albus suddenly went tearing off towards the school without another word.

"Wha –" Bonde turned to Scorpius for answers but he just shrugged.

"Welcome to my world."

They rushed off after him and eventually found him outside the kitchen portal, pacing back and forth, off in his own little world. Through the open door they could see the house elves working away, completely oblivious to what was happening.

"Albus," Scorpius said, a little out of breath.

Albus ignored him and continued to pace.

"Albus! Albus!" he finally resorted to grabbing hold of his friend and shaking him.

"What? What are you doing?" Albus asked looking surprised.

"You're doing it again!"

"Oh…sorry…" he smiled sheepishly towards Scorp and Bonde.

"You were saying about a timeline?"

"Yeah, right, erm…owl, Thestrals and Hippogriffs are purely animalistic creatures whereas Centaurs and house elves still have some humanoid qualities which is why they may be a little slower on the uptake," he said quickly.

"So, they haven't been effected by what's happening yet?" she surmised.

"Yet. When they are, it'll give us and idea of the timeline of escalation," he nodded.

"Escalation? You think this is going to get worse?" she asked looking a little worried.

"It is getting worse. The only question is how bad can it get and how long do we have before it does?"

Bonde and Scorpius looked at each other, frightened at what he had just said.

They were all startled as a spectral blue mountain bear came charging down the corridor and stopped directly in front of them. Its great jaws opened and headmaster Torrens voice came out.

"Would all teachers please report immediately to the headmaster office," the Patronus said before vanishing.

"Alright, gotta go. You two should get back to your common room, I'm sure the headmaster will make an announcement to the school soon," Bonde said.

"Professor," Albus stopped her by grabbing her arm just as she departed. He let go immediately, realizing that touching her without permission was a sure fire was to end up in the hospital wing. But she didn't seem angered by what he'd done so he continued. "I need you to suggest the idea that we prepare for a full evacuation of Hogwarts."

For a moment she was simply stunned. "What?! Albus, don't you think that's a bit much? Nobody has been hurt and a full evacuation of hundreds of students is a massive task."

"I'm just saying we should be ready."

"I'm sorry, Albus, but I think you're overreacting."

"Don't! Don't do that!" he growled.

"Do what?"

Albus heaved a heavy sigh, looking a bit frantic. "You ever heard of the frog in boiling water?"

"The what?"

"If you put a frog in boiling water and it'll just jump straight out, but if you put a frog in cold water and slowly heat it up, the frog will just sit there until it boils to death. I don't want anyone to get boiled!" he said urgently, looking her directly in the eye, hoping she would understand. "Classing these things as isolated incidence instead of considering that they could be part of something larger is a mistake."

Bonde sighed but nodded. "I'll suggest it, but I'm not making any promises."

"Thank you."

She departed leaving Scorpius and Albus to head back to the common room in silence.

"This is bad, isn't it?" Scorpius asked as they passed the portrait of Professor Basil Fronsac which sat on the wall just opposite the entrance to the Slytherin common room. He surveyed them with his beady eyes but didn't speak.

"Animals have very keen instincts, Scorp. They can often sense danger before it arrives," he said gravely. "And Buckbeak is no coward. It would take a lot to chase him off."

They walked in and slumped down into a pair of armchairs. None of the other students seemed to have returned from the village yet so they had the place to themselves.

"The ghosts on the other hand, what do they have to worry about? They can die again; physical violence has no effect. What could make them leave?"

"Another ghost?"

"Maybe, but they would spot an intruder and inform a teacher. Or they band together to fight," Albus rubbed his face. "There's too many damn gaps! Too many unknowns!"

"Let's hope the teachers can figure something out," Scorpius sighed.

That was hoping too much. They didn't get much comfort the next day. When Scorp and Albus left the common room for breakfast (Albus had no winged creatures to feed anymore) they spotted several adults that were not teachers.

"The board of governors?" Scorpius wondered.

"No. Ministry personnel, investigators. Spirit and Beast division."

As they headed towards the great hall, they saw a number of students, mostly first years, crying and being comforted by their class mates.

"B-b-but Binkey has never run away before," the first-year girl sniffed. "She loves the castle."

"There, there," said a forth year boy from the same house. "I'm sure your owl will come back in no time."

"Binkey's a cat!" she shrieked then buried her face in her arms and began to sob.

Even the student's pets were deserting the castle. That was confirmed when they saw Filtch, who looked like he had been deprived of one of his legs since Mrs. Norris had also vanished.

Just before they got to the hall they saw Anya Zabini exit a girl's bathroom looking pale and shaken, as if she'd just thrown up all over the place. Of course, she was still well enough to shot them a look of distain and march into the great hall. Maybe her pet had run off too.

After they had finished their breakfast, with all teachers in attendance, the headmaster stood up to make his inevitable announcement. His face was calm and relaxed which was no doubt the feeling he wanted all of the student to adopt.

"If I may have your attention please," he said loudly. The entire hall faced him with eyes and ears open. "As you've no doubt heard by now, some unusual occurrences have been happing around the castle of late. I don't want anyone to be alarmed. We are investigating the possible causes of what is happening and hopefully things will go back to normal soon. The ministry has sent some of their staff to help us get to the bottom of this and we're confidant that they won't disrupt our daily lives here. Classes will continue as normal, I will be taking over History of Magic until Professor Binns returns and I assure you that the castle is as safe as it has ever been. But, if anyone spots anything out of the ordinary, please report it to a member of staff immediately."

It was a pressroom speech. One he had to give out of simple duty but it also proved that the teachers had no idea what was going on. When the headmaster stepped down, the students erupted into whispered conversations. All of them throwing out ridiculous theories about what was happening. All the little snippets of talk around him, confirmed Albus's suspicion that most of the students in the school weren't very bright. Especially when he heard one of Aiden's friends talking about the chamber of secrets being responsible.

"Any theories?" Scorpius asked.

"None that pan out. Owls hunt by sound, but Thestrals use geolocation. That's why they're so good at navigating. A large enough EMP could throw them off and potentially effect the ghosts as well, but there are only two things I know of powerful enough to produce and electromagnetic anomaly that big. One is the sun and the other is a nuclear detonation. But if a nuke had go off, I think we'd have heard about it and the last time I checked the European Space Agencies website, solar output was normal. The only other possibility is climate change but since I have no way to measure that, it tells us nothing."

Albus looked around to see that about a dozen Slytherin's and several Ravenclaws had stopped talking and had obviously been eavesdropping on what he'd just said. That all looked pretty surprised at what he'd just said.

That was annoying. Apparently, a few people were starting to realize that Albus was smarter than he let on.

"I said they didn't pan out!" he snarled causing them all to turn away again. He huffed to himself then looked back at Scorpius. "Let's go."

"Where?"

"The library. I want to see if anything like this has ever happened before," he said standing up and leaving the hall.

The students weren't the only ones that stared. The statues shamelessly continued the same trend.

But after an hour of searching through dozens of different books they found nothing. Entire stupid sections were dedicated to the rampage of the Cockatrice that went mad during a Tri-wizard tournament or when Ilvermorny had temporarily shutdown for reconstruction and many of the students had come to Hogwarts to continue their educations, but nothing about unexplained events in the past.

No wonder the teachers were stumped. If all the portraits of former headmasters and mistresses of Hogwarts couldn't shed light on what was happening, it could only mean that it had never happened before. It seemed as if a wonderful opportunity to educate wizards on how muggles often had to deal with things was passing him by.

When they encounter the unexpected or unknown, their best minds would come together, examine all the evidence, study all the facts and then begin to postulate theories. Theories would cancel or mix with other theories and then testing would begin. And after painstaking effort, they would find the answers.

That was not happening here. The students were wondering around letting their imaginations run wild about what the cause could be and the teachers were simply waiting for the ministry officials to tell them their findings. And Albus could already guess that their findings would amount to nothing.

Over the next few days, it became obvious that the staff were not going to be putting his suggestion into play. There were no signs that an emergency evacuation plan was being drawn up and the ministry men that shuffled to and fro about the castle offered no new insight.

October turned to November.

The weather became more and more hostile and sooner the lack of owls and ghosts was replaced by quidditch and Christmas. People talked about their plans for the holidays and who would win the match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. As Albus feared, complacency crept back into the castle. Out of sight, out of mind.

It didn't stop Albus from being as cheery as possible on Scorpius' birthday.

He was finally seventeen. The trace was broken and he was official classed as a man by the wizarding world. As happy as he was for him, Albus couldn't help but long for the same thing himself. But his birthday wasn't until mid-January. Never the less, Scorpius was utterly thrilled with his present.

A quick draw wrist holster for his wand. All the auror's used them these days. It allowed a wizard or witch to keep their wand strapped to their inner forearm and then, with just a tiny flick of the wrist, it would shoot out straight into their hand. It cut down on drawing time immensely.

Scorpius had muttered the idea of maybe becoming an auror but wasn't confidant in his chances, believing that his last name with hold him back. Albus had assured him that his father wouldn't judge him on something like that, even if he had in the past. Scorpius hadn't said anymore about it but was clearly concentrating on the required N.E.W.T.'s.

The small moments of joy that could have come from teaching Alexandria about building a mind palace had evaporated. Now that all her classes had moved onto more complex spell work (the seventh years had start Patronus's) her work load was simply too much for her to spare time for private lessons.

There was one moment when she had received a floo transmission just before Halloween to tell her that her cousin had given birth to a healthy baby girl. She had been so overwhelmed by the news that she had pulled Albus into a tight embrace when he'd congratulated her. But that affection had dried up as well as the days continued without incident.

Only Albus, and to some extent Scorpius remained vigilant, waiting for the next occurrence to happen. But Scorpius' attention was often strained. He was determined to produce a Patronus and while he and the rest of the class had managed to create the vapour shield forms, no one had yet managed a full bodied one. So, the race was once again on, between him and Rose. Who could manage it first.

"It doesn't have to be a memory. It can be a dream or something that happened to someone else. As long as if fills you with joy, pure happiness, that's all that matters," Bonde said as she walked around the classroom full of bluish smoke.

Albus watched from the side lines, not even attempting the spell but willing Scorpius on as much as he could.

 _"_ _Expecto Patronum!"_

 _"_ _Expecto Patronum!"_

"I think I had it! Did you see that! I looked like a head!" one of the excited Gryffindor's shouted.

"Yeah, it would make sense that your Patronus is decapitated, Donovan," Aiden chuckled.

Rose hit him playfully on the arm and went back to focusing on her own Patronus. Albus looked at Scorpius. He wasn't actually doing anything but his eyes were closed and he was trying to dig into one of his better memories. For a second, he saw the glistening of water in his eyes.

He was thinking about his mother. Thinking about her brought wonderous memories to the surface, but also painful ones. Scorpius missed her so much and he couldn't focus on one with baring the brunt of the other.

 _"_ _Expecto Patronum!"_

More wisps of blue vapour shot from the ends of wands, but nothing tangible.

Just as many faces in the class began to look disheartened, there was a great whoosh and a beautiful bird burst through the air and began doing laps around the room before coming into land on top of Professor Bonde's desk. She had cast the spell non-verbally causing everyone to gasp with wonder at the proud looking Falcon that was now perched next to her.

"As I said, my Patronus isn't a Phoenix or an Eagle," she smiled.

The fact that it was remaining as vivid as when it arrived was incredible. Producing a Patronus and maintaining one were two different things and holding one for too long could often exhaust a wizard's power. Bonde, however, showed no signs of fatigue.

"Say 'hello' to the class," she said to the spectral Falcon.

Its beak opened and Bonde's voice said; "Hello class," causing them all to laugh.

"Your Patronus is still connected to you, even after it breaks away from your wand so, you have to keep that focus on the feelings happiness at all times," she instructed. "If the focus is strong enough, you can even relay messages through the Patronus."

The Falcon then disappeared into a puff of blue smoke.

"Keep trying everyone," she encouraged.

 _"_ _Expecto Patronum!"_ rang out across the class.

Albus shuffled around the edge until he arrived beside Alexandria.

"So…a Falcon," he smiled.

"If you're about to ask why it isn't an overweight Falcon, I swear I will hex you," she threatened quietly out of the corner of her mouth.

"Actually, I was going to point out that Falcons are birds of prey. Prolific hunters. Quite merciless," he said with a knowing look. He received glare in return. "They're also one of the faster birds in the world, incredibly agility, focused, loyal and solitary. Falcons spend the majority of their lives alone, until they find a mate, at which point they bond for life."

"And?"

"Sounds a lot like you," he said. He didn't give her time to think about the 'bonding for life' part and continued. "The early native Americans called these spirit guides. They were supposed to lead young warriors to their destinies. What does it say about me, that I can make one?"

"Guess you'll just have to make your own destiny," she said with a smile.

"Or just skip destiny completely. Stick with free will," Albus replied. "Or as Biggy Smalls once said; _'Mo' prophecy, mo' problems.'_ "

"Who?"

"Okay, forget the mind palace, I just need to educate you on music."

"I honestly wouldn't mind that," she smiled.

"Yes! That's my girl!" Aiden roared as the whole class turned to see Rose with a blue ghostly dolphin spinning around in front of her.

"Hmm, bottlenose dolphin," Albus smiled, "or as it's known in Japan; lunch."

"Well done, Miss Weasley!" Bonde clapped ignoring Albus' attempt to make her laugh. "Thirty points to –"

"Err, Professor," Albus nudged her then nodded to the other side of the room.

Scorpius was there, kneeling in front of a fully formed spectral Huskie. It was looking around the room panting with its tongue hanging out. Scorpius, likewise, had a huge grin on his face.

Rose's Dolphin vanished.

"Thirty points to Slytherin," Bonde conceded. "Excellent work, Scorpius."

It was doubtful that Rose would be able to find the happy thoughts necessary to reproduce her Patronus for quite a while.

Scorpius was so pleased with himself that he wanted to write to his father and tell him but then remembered that all the owls had left. Instead, Hogwarts had been forwarding all mail to the owls in Hogsmead (which hadn't disappeared) so there was a bit of a daily in the mail, but students were still getting it. They headed back to the common room so he could write his letter there.

"Did you know that Huskie's have ventured out and rescued stranded humans for the tundra?" Albus said to his still smiling friend.

"Good choice of companion then?"

"The best," he said patting him on the shoulder.

"Rose didn't look happy," Scorp said, his jubilation dropping slightly.

"She's just miffed that you managed it before she did," Albus assured. "I was really hoping hers would a chimpanzee."

"No surprise that it's a dolphin. They're one of the smartest animals in the world," he said with a slightly dreamy expression.

"Chimps are smarter," Albus remarked.

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, on the spectrum they're – what the hell?!"

Albus and Scorpius stopped dead in their tracks. The portrait opposite the Slytherin common room entrance was gone. Well, not gone. The frame was still there, but in place of the actual picture was just a blank canvas, as if the painting itself has been washed away.

They approached it slowly and even dared to reach out and touch it. It felt cold.

"Albus," Scorpius said, his voice hollow, "sometimes I hate that you're always right."

"Me too."


	10. The Thomas Crown Despair

"You're absolutely sure," Torrens asked.

Albus and Scorpius were sitting in front of him in the headmaster's office. Every single person to sit in the big chair of that office had brought something unique to it and Torrens addition was books. Mountains of books. He had practically turned the place into a second library.

The portraits of all the former headmasters and headmistresses weren't bothering to do their usual play act of pretending to be asleep and instead were very much listening to everything being said. One portrait was empty though. Hanging high, near the ceiling to the left of the desk was another frame with a completely blank canvas within. It was one of three portraits the Basil Fornsac could move around within the school. All were empty.

The sorting hat sat on its perch, appearing lifeless but they all knew it was anything but.

For a room that had so many people in, it was incredibly quiet.

Behind Albus and Scorpius, several of the teachers were standing silently. Professor's Longbottom, Sinistra and Vector where on the left while Bonde and Slughorn where on the right.

"A hundred percent," Albus said. "Basil Fornsac's portrait was still there when we left in the morning, it was gone when we came back from defence against the dark arts, where Scorpius produced a magnificent corporal Patronus before anyone else by the way, which is a window of eight hours, thirteen minutes."

Torrens let out a trouble breath. "Vindictus, any luck?" he asked one of the portraits.

"I'm afraid not, Eric. We can't get in because there is simply nothing there to get into," the elderly man with white hair responded.

Slughorn took a step forward. "A few of the students said they saw Collin Monatch fiddling around with the portrait on the fifth floor yesterday. I'm not accusing the boy of anything but perhaps –"

"Sir, have you met Colin Monatch?" Scorpius asked with an amused look on his face.

"Well, no, I believe he's in Hufflepuff."

"He's also the guy that saved his money for a whole year for a trip to Greece because he thought Lesbos was an island populated solely by lesbians," Albus said flatly.

A chuckle burst out and everyone saw Albus Dumbledore inside his portrait trying to hide the smirk on his face. "It's an honest mistake to make," he muttered.

"Honest mistake maybe. But the indication of a nefarious criminal mastermind intent of sabotaging Hogwarts from within? I rather doubt it," Albus said.

The door to the headmaster's office opened and Professors Flitwick and Hakkaman entered.

"How many?" Torrens asked immediately.

"Nine. Two in the main entrance, one outside the staff room, one on the fifth floor, one beside the Gryffindor portal, one across from the Ravenclaw entrance, one opposite the Slytherin entrance, one on the seventh floor and the three Fornsac portraits that we are counting as one," Flitwick reported.

Scorpius glanced to his left to see Albus' eyes working rapidly from right to left. He was working through that evidence at lightning speed looking for anything that connected them. A moment later he growled to himself. "No discernible pattern," he muttered.

"Extraordinary," everyone looked up at Albus Dumbledore's portrait. He seemed to have spoken without realizing and quickly turned to start examining the fabric of his armchair.

"What's extraordinary, Albus?" Torrens asked.

"Oh, well, the fact that so many portraits could simple be seemingly erased without any damage being inflicted on them. And done so in secret, extraordinary, but troublesome," he said calmly.

It wasn't one of his better lies. Dumbledore's portrait had been watching the boy he was that shared his name and had clearly realized just how fast his mind could work.

"I think we can all agree with that," Torrens said grimly.

Dumbledore's blue eyes turned back to Albus, watching him for any other appearance of hidden brain power. Albus did his best to avoid his gaze and instead turned to Bonde.

"Water getting warm yet?" he asked with a bit of accusation in his voice.

"Albus," she said with a tone that said 'now is not the time'.

"You two care to fill us in?"

"Why doesn't Hogwarts have an emergency evacuation plan in place?" Albus suddenly blurted.

"Professor Bonde, is that why you brought that up at our last meeting?" Torrens asked calmly.

She looked away, ashamed. "Albus suggested it, I agreed."

"Even muggle office building and libraries have emergency evacuation plans in place in case there is ever a fire or something. But from what I understand, Hogwarts doesn't have one," Albus said trying not to raise his voice.

"I'm afraid I must assume part of the blame for that, headmaster," Dumbledore's portrait spoke. "Both my pride and my belief that Hogwarts could overcome any threat made evacuating the school a last resort, and one trying didn't want to think about. Mr. Potter and Professor Bonde are quite correct. These kind of safety precautions should have been put into place after the chamber of secrets was first opened. But I neglected them because deep down I never wanted to believe that they may one day be needed. Now that I am no longer an obstacle, I see no reason why they shouldn't be put into place."

Dumbledore was never one to let guilt interfere with the wellbeing of Hogwarts. It had taken a horrific potion guarding a Horcrux to make him break down and cry about his mistakes. He wasn't about to start sobbing now, not when he could still be of use to the school.

"It's a tall order. Evacuating almost eight-hundred students, staff and house elves. The Hogwarts express would need at least seven hours to be recalled and even then, it couldn't take them all," Torrens said.

"I'm sure we could come up with some sort of emergency floo activation. There are more than enough fireplaces around the castle," Flitwick suggested.

"And the Room of Requirement created a tunnel to the Hogs head before. It could probably do it again," Neville added.

"Very well. Neville, Filius, we will start work on a plan for getting the students out. Everard," he addressed another of the portraits. "I'd like you to coordinate with the other portraits, we need to know if anymore go missing. Imam," he turned to Professor Hakkaman, "contact the ministry and enquire about a possible mass floo activation. Inform them of our decision to create an emergency evacuation plan."

"Shall we call it the _'Potter Protocol'_? I'm sure his father would love that," Snape's portrait sneered.

"As always Severus, you bring a glow of warmth and encouragement to the room," Torrens smiled without affection. "Professor Bonde, can I ask you to escort these two back to the Slytherin dormitories?"

"Of course," she nodded ushered Albus and Scorpius out.

"Everard, sorry, but you'll need to work with Mr. Filtch as well," Torrens said as they were leaving.

"Oh, what a joy," the portrait grumbled.

"I know. He's been in a right state, between losing his cat and the informants…just do your best."

Once they were past the gargoyles and heading down the corridor, Bonde decided it was safe to talk.

"Albus, could you please not snap at the headmaster. I'm actually enjoying this post and I don't want to get fired," she said in a hushed voice.

"I'm not trying to get you into trouble, but we have to be ready," Albus insisted.

"I'm not denying that, but we also have to take care that we don't cause a panic. Suddenly getting all of the students to practice evacuation drills might make them a bit concerned," she said.

"They should be concerned. These plans should have been put into place years ago, instead they just keep bumping up protection around the school, never thinking that they may one day have to abandon it," he growled.

"I may not be British, but I know this school is a treasure to every single wizard and witch in this country. They'll fight to make sure that never happens."

"Then they're idiots!" Albus yelled. "Even the Spartans at Thermopylae knew they wouldn't be able to hold the Persians back forever! The Persians broke through and they burned Athens to the ground but it didn't matter because the Athenian's had a back-up plan to make sure their way of life survived. My father is as much to blame as Dumbledore. Because of them, the wizarding world has never envisioned a scenario where they would have to sacrifice Hogwarts to survive. I don't give a shit about this castle so I don't suffer from the same narrowmindedness!"

Bonde looked truly shocked by his words. "You really don't care about any of it?" she breathed.

"Ever since that hat got put on my head and yelled Slytherin, this castle and everyone in have been working very hard to make my life a living hell! Scorpius is the exception, and Dom and Melissa…and to a lesser extent, Rose and recently, you. You are the only good thing to come out of this year," Albus said honestly. Scorpius opened his mouth to object but Albus was faster. "And your Patronus, that was cool."

"I don't want to be the only good this you get out of this year!"

"Well, you are. You're the only person that knew about how pathetic I am with magic but still treated me like a human being, instead of an…aberration. Despite that, I don't want to see any of the students get hurt…well, maybe Aiden, but not badly…the point is, everyone else has an emotional attachment to this school. I don't. So, whose judgement should we be trusting right now?"

"Nobody is going to put the fate of this school in your hands, Albus!" she growled.

"I know. Like I said, they're idiots," he stated then walked way, leaving her too stunned to follow.

Albus did not return to the common room, instead he went and found Lily and Hugo who were having dinner in the great hall with most of the other students. They were all talking about the latest disappearances and finally some of them were starting to look worried.

 _About time_. Albus thought.

Anya Zabini looked as if she had created some kind of book club about the whole thing because dozens of Slytherin students had gathered around her and were talking in hushed voices. Likewise, Aiden and Rose had the entire Gryffindor quidditch team sitting together discussing the portraits. Most of them seemed to be looking to Rose for answers and while she looked as if she were trying to keep up her air of calm control that the head girl was supposed to have, Albus saw her struggling to give them any kind of real answers.

Lily and Hugo were sitting a little further down the bench. Albus and Scorpius remained standing, towering over the two.

"I'm guessing you guys have heard?" Albus asked.

"Who hasn't?" Hugo said, putting down his fork.

"Listen, after dinner, I want you two to go back to Gryffindor tower and pack your trunks –"

"What?! We're not leaving!" Lily shrieked.

"I didn't say you were. But the teachers are working on an emergency evacuation plan for the school so if things get any worse, we all might be leaving very suddenly. I want you to keep everything packed in your trunks. Just take out what you need for your lessons, understood?" Albus explained quietly now that a few other nosey students were trying to listen.

"It's just a precaution," Scorpius nodded.

"They are recalling the Hogwarts express to Hogsmead where it is going to stay, they're also working on a massive floo activation. The headmaster will explain more in a day or two. Meantime, I want you two to stick together. Me and Scorp might not always be around, so you two have a responsibility to each other. Clear?"

"You don't need to tell us, Al. We're family, we always stick together," Lily stated proudly.

"I'm not following her into the bathroom!" Hugo objected.

"Of course, you don't have to follow her into the bathroom, you plonker!" Scorpius laughed.

"Just watch each other's backs, okay?" Albus urged.

"Got it," Hugo nodded.

"Good," he leaned over and kissed Lily on the forehead before leaving them to their dinner.

"Wait, how do you know about this plan?" Lily called after him.

"Because it was my idea," Albus yelled back.

That left her looking very surprised.

Albus and Scorpius spent the next hour walking from one missing portrait to the next, examining them for anything that might have been missed. All of the canvases felt cold to the touch but other than that, there was no signs of damage or tampering. For a moment Albus considered the idea that someone had duplicated the frames and simply swapped the paintings, stashing the real ones away somewhere. But he dismissed that possibility from two reasons, one; it would be next to impossible to do without being seen and two; it wouldn't have prevented the other portraits from entering it.

Over the following days, more ministry personnel showed up, wondering about the corridors and grounds, prodding random places with their wands. It became pretty obvious that they were getting nowhere since they could often be heard muttering frustrated words to themselves.

Classes continued but there was a definite air of unease. The usual distractions that served to take the students minds off things just weren't working anymore. Not now that they had to walk pass the empty portraits every day. And the fact that nobody could figure out why these things were happening was only adding to the gloom.

Occasionally, that mood wouldn't remain within the whispers of students but overtake everything else as it did during their potions lesson in early December.

"My dear boy, this doesn't have anything to do with brewing the Wolfsbane potion," Slughorn said, a little flustered.

"But sir, what if they made a mistake?" A Gryffindor boy asked.

"No, no, there was no mistake. True, Hogwarts suffered incredible damage during the battle, I should know, I was there," he said with a look of supreme pride, "but wizards and witches from all over the world came here to help restore the castle to its former glory and a brilliant job they did too."

"I wasn't questioning their efforts, sir. I'm sorry if it sounded like that. But, some of the enchantments on the school are centuries old, created by the founding four themselves and there are no records of what they actually did. I'm just suggesting that maybe some of the enchantments are clashing with the new ones," the boy said clearly trying to ignore the fact that the whole room was watching him.

Slughorn smiled. "I'm sure Professor Bonde will be very happy to know that you've all been paying attention during her teachings of elemental conflict but the repairs were done over twenty years ago. If a conflict between the spells existed, I assure you, it would have shown itself by now."

Bonde seemed to agree with Slughorn as she hadn't brought it up as a possibility to Albus or anyone else.

"But I heard they've been adding spells to the school over the last few years," Anya Zabini piped up.

"Oh, those are simply extra security measures. Never can be too careful," he chuckled. "Harry Potter, I taught him during his sixth year, you know, very good friend of mine…" Slughorn said as if he hadn't reminded the world of that fact four hundred times before, "has been working tirelessly with the ministry on that. After all the threats he faced during his time here, they've been putting in dozens of different enchantments to make sure those terrible events can never happen again. I assure you, the school is quite safe. Now, back to the Wolfbane potion!" he clapped.

While Slughorn seemed at ease, Albus certainly wasn't. After all, Dumbledore and the ministry had worked together to reinforce the school security the same year that Horace had come back to teach. It ended up being useless, mainly because of the actions of one Draco Malfoy. Albus stared off into space while wondering, if his best friend's father could find a way around the defences, who else could.

"It is imperative that the potion be brewed at the correct temperature for the correct amount of time otherwise you risk causing serious harm to the poor soul you are trying to help," Slughorn said moving through the class. He stopped next to Albus. "Albus, are you marking this down?"

"What did you say?!" Albus snapped but he wasn't talking to Slughorn.

He wasn't even in the potions classroom anymore. He was inside his vault, looking at the memory of his meeting with the headmaster. The office was back, in perfect detail and all the teachers were there, frozen, as if they were part of a film that had just been paused.

"You said _'Informants'_ ," he said pointing to headmaster Torrens. " _'He's been in a right state, between losing his cat and the informants…'_ you said that! Of course! Those portraits were spies for Filtch! They're perfectly positioned, outside the portals, the entrance all, outside the room of requirement…If they see students misbehaving, they report it to Filtch."

Albus moved around the room, looking at the faces of all the frozen teachers. None of them showed any sign of the connection that he had just made.

"What if they saw something else? Something they weren't supposed to…something they could tell others…the ghosts! The ghosts are like the portraits! Often ignored, but always around so they see everything! The owls, the Threstrals, the Hippogriffs…they're animals and they can sense when a predator is near. A predator that doesn't want to be seen and so had to get rid of any witnesses! A predator with an agenda, with malicious intent! But in order to get rid of the ghosts and the portraits, the scare the owls away, it would have to be – INSIDE!"

Albus had blasted back into the potions classroom and yelled the last word at the top of his voice.

"It's inside!"

"Err, Albus? What are you talking about?" Slughorn said looking very confused. The entire class had been snapped away from their work by Albus's outburst as were now focused on him, but he didn't care.

"We have to evacuate the school! It's already inside!"

"Evacu – really, m'boy, you sound a bit…hysterical. Are you feeling alright?"

Albus jumped up from his desk, not even bothering to grab his things and shot out of the classroom as fast as he could.

He was out of breath and beginning to sweat by the time he reached the headmaster office. "Accruement," he said to the gargoyles causing them to move aside. He rushed up and banged on the door but didn't wait for an answer before opening it and rushing in.

"Headmaster, we need to –" Albus suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.

"Albus, what are you doing here?"

"Are you alright?"

The headmaster was not alone.

"Dad?"


	11. Hogwarts, We Have a Problem

"What are you doing here?" Albus blurted automatically.

The hero of Hogwarts, Harry Potter was standing in the headmaster's office alongside the minister for Magic, Hermione Granger-Weasley. They were both wearing their work clothes and had probably floo'd directly into the Torrens office. He wasn't surprised to see them. Naturally, after everything that had been happening, they would feel duty bound to pay the school a visit but their presence was going to make what Albus had to do far more difficult.

"What do you think?" Harry said with a raised eyebrow.

"I thought the ministry didn't have any jurisdiction over Hogwarts," he reminded.

"We're here to assist in anyway we can," Hermione assured.

"Albus, what seems to be the problem?" Torrens asked, rising from his desk. He could see Albus really didn't want them there and was trying to pull his attention away.

Albus took a deep breath and approached the headmaster's desk. "Sir, I have reason to believe that Hogwarts has been infiltrated and that you should begin evacuating the students immediately," he said trying to sound calm.

"What?!" Hermione gasped.

"Infiltrated, by who?" Harry asked immediately.

"I don't know," Albus admitted.

"Well, how did they get in?" Harry asked.

"I don't know that either," he said.

"So, you're calling for an evacuation because of all the things you don't know?" Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, I thought that was obvious!" Albus hissed, becoming impatient.

"How do you know that the school has been breached?" Harry asked, not liking his son's tone.

"I studied the evidence, or rather, the lack of evidence," he stated. "I don't know what magic was used to get rid of the ghosts and the portraits but it must have been done from inside the castle, there's no other way. And what ever it is, it's pretty clear that the animals want to get as far away from it as possible! All of these things point to something highly intelligent, incredibly powerful and indescribably dangerous!"

"Albus, calm down. You're making a bit of a leap there aren't you?" Hermione said as if she were trying to stop an infant from having a tantrum.

Now he was getting angry.

"They say sitting behind a desk will dull your wits and here's the proof!" he scathed.

If there was one sure fire way to start a fight with Rose or Hermione it was to insult their intelligence. And sure enough, Hermione's ears were turning red and her eyes had narrowed at Albus.

"Very well, Albus," she said in an extremely high-pitched voice, "tell us how you've come to this conclusion."

"Of course, let's waste more time we don't have!" he yelled. "It's obviously intelligent because it has gotten past every level of security this castle has and it's been doing all these things right under our noses without leaving even a hint of evidence behind. It's obviously powerful because it is having an effect across the entire school grounds and it's dangerous because an animal like Buckbeak, who charged head first into the battle of Hogwarts, has already pissed himself and run screaming for the hills! Any more stupid questions?"

"Albus! You are addressing the minister for magic and you will show her respect," Torrens said with a threatening tone.

He didn't apologies, but just turned away so he wouldn't have to look at them. This was exactly what he'd warned Bonde about. Harry and Hermione were too closed minded to see the situation as something wholly different to any they'd faced before. He couldn't read his fathers mind be he was sure that when he'd said the word _'infiltrated'_ , Harry had immediately though of Barty Crouch Jr. or the death eaters on the night Dumbledore died.

"The investigators still haven't ruled out malfunction enchantments or natural occurrences," Hermione said.

"Natural occurrences?! What natural occurrence can cause the paintings to start vanishing?" Albus laughed without humour.

"And," Hermione continued, ignoring Albus's comment, "everything that has been effected so far has a mind of its own. We don't know what their reasons might be, but they could have decided to leave of their own accords."

"What, you think the ghosts went on strike? For what, better living conditions?" Albus spat.

"Enough, Albus!" Harry roared. "We are not evacuating this school just because you've got a panicked theory!"

"Your fathers right. Hogwarts has withstood every threat levelled against it for over a thousand years. You should have more faith in this castle, Albus, and in the people that protect it," Hermione said proudly.

"And you're never wrong," Albus said with angry sarcasm.

"Oh, of course I've been wrong before! I'm only human, Albus!"

"Let's hope this thing is too," he said.

"What thing? You don't know that something has infiltrated the school, you have no proof! Yes, some odd things have happened but there could be a hundred explanations for them. Instead, you are twisting the fact to suit your theory that there is a threat to the castle…or maybe you just hope there is!" she shrieked.

"You think I want this to happen?!" Albus glared at the accusation.

"Albus, it's no secret that your time at this school hasn't exactly been a wonderful experience. It's not too hard to believe that maybe you'd like the school to be evacuated so that you don't have to be here anymore," Harry agreed.

"Just so we're on the same page, you think I'm taking advantage of the current frightening circumstances to further my own gains even if it means disrupting the education of everyone in Hogwarts?"

It was actually painful that they would think that of him, but not unsurprising. He was the black sheep of the Potter family after all, and they couldn't simply afford him the same level of trust that they gave James and Lily. Not after the mistakes he'd made in the past.

"I'm just saying, maybe you're allowing your imagination to get the better of you because deep down, you want to be free of this place," Harry reiterated, trying to lessen the blow of what he'd said before. It didn't work. Not because of Albus's anger over their low opinion of him but simply because of their utter stupidity.

"I've endured six years of hell in this place, but you think I can't take another five weeks, two of which, I'm not here anyway? I turn seventeen on January twelfth and I can resign the second I do. So, why in the name of Merlin's haemorrhoid would I go through all of this?!"

As expected, they didn't have an answer for that but it was clear that they also weren't changing their minds. Albus was silent for a few moments, shaking his head with his eyes closed. He had lost this battle and was going to have to think of something else. He turned and looked the headmaster in the eye. "We need to be ready. When the house elves and centaurs disappear, we won't have much time."

He turned around and left the headmasters office, his brain searching desperately for something that could give him new insight into what was happening. The problem was that whatever was behind the events was smart enough to leave no clues. Albus had only concluded that the events were a build up to something else because of the way in which they seemed to be expanding in scope. The ghosts were often forgotten about until they showed themselves, whereas the portraits were there all the time. The second something changed with them, people would notice which meant that the thing that was behind it all was becoming more daring.

Albus could only hope that overconfidence might get the better of it and it would let something slip, but thus far, it showed no signs of making any kind of mistake.

He slouched back to the Slytherin common room feeling utterly useless. It didn't matter if he had a mind vault or not. He would never be the one making the decisions, especially at crucial times. That would be left to adults who knew better, or rather, thought they knew better. It probably seemed to them like he was being a typical teenager. That his opinion and ideas were all that matter and everybody else was mistaken. But Albus wasn't arrogant enough to believe that.

That was a big difference between wisdom and knowledge. Hermione had knowledge and was a very quick thinker. She was nothing short of a genius but, unfortunately, she had always lacked creativity. The ability to think outside the box. That was why she couldn't believe that the Deathly Hallows existed even when she had been using one of them for years. Albus knew all about the story of his father's cloak and even knew that the Elder Wand was resting peacefully with its former master across the grounds and that the Resurrection Stone was still out there, buried somewhere in the forbidden forest.

It was that out of the box thinking combined with knowledge and experience that created wisdom. Albus had learned the hard way not to take anything for granted, to consider that logic and reason can't provide all the answers and the know, without a shadow of a doubt, that nothing was impossible.

He sat slumped in his usual armchair for about ten minutes before Scorpius returned, carrying both their bags.

"Forget something?" he said dumping Al's stuff at his feet.

"Cheers," he murmured.

"What happened? You tore out of there pretty quickly. Slughorn wouldn't let me go after you," he said waiting for an explanation.

"Scorp…if something happens, I need you to promise me that you'll get Lily and Hugo out," Albus whispered as more Slytherin's entered the common room, all glancing suspiciously at him.

"You know you don't have to ask," Scorpius stated.

"I mean, just in case I can't," Albus nodded.

"What happened? You were yelling that we need to evacuate!"

"Yeah, that's not going to happen."

"Why not?"

"Cooler heads prevailed. And by cooler, I mean as dumb as an ice cube!" Albus spat.

"Huh?"

"My dad and our illustrious minister decided to pat a visit," he said. "And they believe that there is no threat and that I'm imagining it all because I hate the school."

"I bet you took that with gracefully," Scorpius remarked.

"Well, I didn't punch him," Albus shrugged.

"Remind you of anything?"

"Err, what do you mean?"

"The mayor from Jaws," Scorpius smiled.

"See, I told you you'd love that film!" Albus laughed. It was the first time he'd laughed in a while. "But, you're right. They aren't going to act until something swims up and bites them in the ass either. Which is why we've got to be ready, even if they aren't."

"Easier said than done. We don't even know what we're dealing with," he admitted.

"I've got an idea, but you're not going to like it," Albus said carefully.

"Oh no, what?" Scorpius groaned.

"Come with me," Albus said. "I need to test a theory."

He led Scorpius passed the empty portrait outside the common room and on to the nearest empty classroom he could find, known as dungeon five. It was notorious for the amount of mess that got made during the lessons, so much so that the ceiling had been permanently made an unusual vomit colour and the suits of armour that adjoined the door had turned brown. Once inside, he closed the door and continued to keep his voice low.

"I'm sure Hermione has already had people checking the ministry archives for any information about what's happening but I think they are checking the wrong places. They're looking for natural occurrences or behavioural patterns when they should be looking for who or what could cause this. So, I'm gonna go take a look," he said casually.

"What do you mean 'take a look'?" Scorpius asked sounding worried.

"Tomorrow, I'm going to use one of the floo ports to get to the ministry," Albus said.

"What?! You can't just –"

"Keep your voice down!"

"Albus, you get caught sneaking out of the school and breaking into the ministry and –"

"My dad will use my balls for Christmas decorations, I know! But, luckily, I'll still be here," he smiled.

"How are – No! Not a chance!" Scorpius said catching on.

"We'll steal some Polyjuice from Slughorn and you can be me for a few hours," Albus grinned. "I know it's not an exciting prospect but once you see me naked you'll feel better."

"First off, no. Second, third, fourth and fifth, hell no!"

"Scorp, we've got nothing else to go on and the ministry achieves have books they would never allow in this school. One of them might be able to tell us something," Albus pleaded.

"And if you get caught, it's not just you that gets into shit, I do too!"

"Then I won't get caught. Look, I'm always up before anyone else, well, except Alex, but –"

"Oh, she's _'Alex'_ now, is she? You two on a first name basis?" Scorpius raised an eyebrow.

"Professor Bonde," he corrected. "I'll sneak into to the potions room and get the Polyjuice before anyone else gets up. Then, we'll show ourselves at breakfast, wait for the first lesson to start, which is Transfiguration for sixth years by the way, then I'll use Hakkaman's floo point while you turn into me. Simple. I'll only be gone a few hours."

"I hate you," Scorpius moaned.

"You're a gentleman and a scholar," Albus said happily. The two left the classroom and headed back but were held up by a number of students lingering in the corridor. When they looked past them, they could see why.

"I'm sorry Auror Potter, he's not in there," Anya Zabini said. She had just stepped out of the portal to report to his father who was leaning against the wall.

"He's already got a secretary, Anya," Albus said, pushing through the students who were ogling the great hero with amazement.

"Albus, hey Scorpius," Harry said with a forced smiled.

"Mr. Potter. You lost?" Scorpius grinned.

"I was hoping to have a word with my son…in private," he added with a firm look to all the gathered students. They looked startled and scuttled away quickly.

Scorpius and Zabini re-entered the Slytherin portal leaving just Albus, Harry and the empty portrait in the corridor.

"I'm sorry about what I said before," Harry started. "You're had a rotten time here but I know you would never want to mess up anyone else's education, especially, Scorpius."

"You're right, I wouldn't."

"But, you're running around yelling that there is something inside the castle and that everyone needs to leave. Don't you see how that could cause a panic and do more harm than good?" he reasoned.

"The purpose of an evacuation plan is to make sure people don't panic. In the event of something terrible happening, everyone knows exactly what to do and where to go," Albus said simply.

"Right. Maybe the school should have one. We'll come up with something, but we're not going to jump to defcon zero because a few strange things are happening," he said pleadingly.

"There is no defcon zero," Albus stated.

"I don't know, it's an American thing," Harry brushed off. "My point is; nobodies been hurt, nothings exploding –"

"You didn't see Gryffindor tower," he mumbled.

"Yeah, about that. George tells me that a bunch of Bogbombs went missing from his shop on the same day that you were in London," he said sternly.

"Well, then I'm one of eight million possible suspects. Good luck," he smirked.

"Albus," he sighed. These talks were always a great deal of effort on both sides. "The safety of everyone in this school is our highest priority."

"I've never doubted that," Albus admitted, "the problem is that you have beaten every threat this school has ever faced. Voldemort, dementors, tri-wizard cup, basilisk and so on, but they all have something in common. They've happened before."

"I don't see your point."

"I don't expect you to. Ultimately, it's up to the headmaster and he'll respect your and Hermione's advice. So, that's that."

"Just, try to stay calm. We are working on it, you know," Harry reassured.

"I know," Albus nodded. "See ya at Christmas."

"Yeah, see ya then," Harry nodded. For a second it seemed like he was struggling with the idea of whether or not to hug him but then remembered they didn't really hug anymore.

Harry set off out of the dungeons, probably heading for a floo point somewhere or to stop in and say hi to Neville while Albus returned to the common room.

"Well, I didn't hear any yelling so that must have gone well?" Scorpius asked.

"As well as can be expected," Albus shrugged.

"How so?"

"Ahh, he means well. Then again, good intentions have always been the fastest way to hell," he said grimly.

Albus was forced to employ Occulmens methods on himself that night. Working hard to clear all the thoughts out of his head just so he could quiet his mind enough to sleep. He never the less work at his usual time, early in the morning before the sun had started to rise.

It was now so dark in the mornings that he wondered if Bonde was still doing her run around the lake and grounds or if she'd started working out in her room instead. Either way, he was sure that nothing would keep her from her exercise routine.

He shuffled out of bed quietly and got dressed before making his way out of the common room. He was once again greeted by the sight of the empty portrait in the corridor. Nothing had changed there. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he headed off towards the main shaft where the moving staircases would be frozen in place until the rest of the castle awoke. But when he got there, he was suddenly wide awake.

Not one, not a few, but every single one of the portraits that lined the walls of the hundred-foot shaft were blank and empty. Without thinking twice, he bolted off down the corridor towards the kitchens. Every passage he passed, every wall where a picture hung was now an empty frame.

He reached the kitchen entrance only to find that portrait was empty as well. In order to open it, you had to tickle the pear in the bowl of fruit but the bowl and the pear had vanished. Then he noticed that the portrait was actually already open. Just a crack, enough for a tiny bit of the brazier light from within to escape. He pushed the portrait open and his fears were realized.

The house elves were gone. Every single one of them.

"Yes, I'm sure it's just my imagination," he growled to himself and took off back into the castle. He had to find Professor Bonde.

His theory proved correct. After banging on the door of her quarters, he opened looking surprised. She was wearing her workout gear and once again had a heavy sweat covering her body. _Still gorgeous though_. Albus couldn't help thinking.

"They're gone, all of them! The portraits, the house elves, I'm betting the centaurs too," he panted.

"Show me," she ordered. Not even bothering to change or wipe her face with a towel, she followed him out to the main shaft and saw the same thing that he had. She gazed in horror for a moment, then her blue ghostly falcon exploded from the tip of her wand and shot up into the castle.

"Who you waking up?" Albus asked.

"Everyone."


	12. Showtime

"Everybody, stand away from the portal!" Hakkaman yelled through the wall before raising his wand.

A well-placed jet of blue light struck the empty frame of the fat lady, blasting it open. A few younger Gryffindor's screamed at the boom but most just flooded out into the corridor. Amazingly, Hakkaman's spell hadn't actually damaged the frame, just the wall next to it. They had already blasted open the Hufflepuff portrait to get the other students out. Luckily, the Ravenclaw and Slytherin houses didn't rely on portraits for security were still able to come and go as they pleased.

None of the students had bothered to change into their school robes and instead were just donning whatever they would usually wear during a Hogsmead visit.

"Go straight to the great hall everyone, all lessons are cancelled. Straight into the great hall," both Professor Sinistra and Vector were repeating to the students that shuffled past them.

On the ground floor, Albus and Scorpius were huddled together in a corner, speaking in whispers.

"I'm telling you, it heard me!" Albus stated.

"This was not your fault!"

"I said I was leaving the school to check the ministry archives today and it heard so it decided to act," he hissed, glancing around to make sure the other students weren't listening.

"You don't know that. This might have been its plan all along," Scorpius retorted.

It was a mark of their unshakeable friendship and trust that Scorpius hadn't never for a moment doubted that Albus was right about what was happening.

"Either way, we've gotta get out of this school," Albus said.

"They have to evacuate now. No house elves, means no meals and I seriously doubt they'll simply tell the students to go down the kitchens and make their own food. Those kitchens aren't even designed for humans," Scorpius nodded.

Professor Bonde shimmied through the passing crowds of students in order to get to Albus and Scorpius. She had changed out of her workout clothes and into some causal black trousers and a tank top.

"Hagrid just got back from the forest. You were right, the centaurs are gone," she said looking worried.

"Centaurs are highly territorial, they would preference war over abandoning their homes. Only the absolute certainty that it was a fight they couldn't win would make them retreat," Albus said.

"Yeah, Hagrid said the same thing," she agreed.

Madam Pomfrey and Filtch were standing at the entrance to the hall, ushering the students in. They saw Neville, Slughorn and Torrens approaching from down the corridor and it seemed Slughorn was making his usual mistake of talking at his natural volume.

"I've tried three different fireplaces already, all of them completely unresponsive," he panted, trying to keep up with the other two.

"Mines not working either. The entire floo network across the school is down," Neville said gravely. He had a steely look in his eyes that said he was ready for a fight.

Before either Scorpius or Bonde could say a word, Albus was already marching over to the headmaster.

"Cutting off an enemy's lines of communication is a standard warfare tactic. We're running out of time," he said with as much seriousness as he could.

"Warfare…really, Albus, you mustn't –" Slughorn stammered but was cut off by Torrens.

"Once all students are in the great hall, I'll make the announcement that we are evacuating."

"But, perhaps we should consult the governors before we –"

"If I thought they could reach a decision before the end of the year, I would. I'm not going to stand around waiting for the bureaucrats to say what is best for the students. The power to open or close the school resides with the headmaster and I'm exercising it now. Neville, I want you to go to Hogmead and apparate to the ministry, inform them what's happen and of my decision to get the students out," he ordered.

"Sir, I think I should stay until –"

"Neville, we have no owls, no floo transmission and apparating is faster than a Patronus. The ministry has to be warned and I doubt most of them have even gotten out of bed yet," Torrens appeased. "Coming from you, they'll understand and I didn't tell you not to come back."

"Understood," he said and ran off to the nearest exit.

Torrens turned to Albus. "So far, all your predictions have come true. Anything else I should know?"

"You're doing the right thing," Albus said.

"Really? Because I'm the first headmaster in centuries to order a mass exodus from Hogwarts. I doubt history will be kind to me for that," he growled.

"If I'm right, history will be focused on something else," he said grimly.

The headmaster didn't respond but instead walked into the great hall as the others followed. It was doubtful that anyone had ever seen the four tables of Hogwarts completely full to the brim with so many people wearing muggle, or non-school, clothes. It was such a mishmash of different colours that you could barely make out which table belonged to which house.

Bonde when off to gather with the other teachers, none of whom were seated. They were all at the back of the hall, ready to get moving as soon as the address was finished.

Torrens approached the podium and tapped his wand on it which had the magically amplified effect of sounding like a gong.

"This is not an announcement I ever wanted to make," he said regretfully but still stern, "In the hour that follows, all students and staff will evacuate Hogwarts school. I'm freezing all curriculums, all house points, all quidditch scores. No one will fail or be graded down in their marks. All exams will be held at a later time. The fact is that the unusual occurrences that have plagued this school over the last few months have increased to a point where I don't believe student safety can be guaranteed. And until it can…this school will remain closed."

From the looks of sheer shock and horror on the students faces a person might have thought that Voldemort had returned. Not even when the basilisk was loose or when Dumbledore had died had the school been closed.

This was a dark day for the wizarding world.

But Torrens had come to the same conclusion as Albus. Whatever was happening, it had started small, by effecting the ghosts that only had a very limited way of interacting with the schools populous. But it had soon increased, hitting animals then portraits and now the closest things to human that Hogwarts had. It indicated that the next things to be affected would be the humans themselves.

He wasn't going to wait for that to happen.

"Teachers and prefects will oversee all of you. When you leave this hall, you will have thirty minutes to gather your belongings and reconvene here. You will then be led out of the grounds to Hogsmead where the Hogwarts Express is waiting," Torrens continued.

Some of the younger students had actually started tearing up and a few of the teachers that had spent a significant amount of time there looked like they were on the verge of doing the same.

"I love this school and I know you do too," he said in a very uncharacteristic display of emotion, "I will never give up hope that we will all return to it. But today, we must leave. Thirty minutes, then back here. On your way."

He turned away from the students and said something to the teachers. They then began dispersing around the hall.

"Ravenclaws, follow me," Flitwick said jogging up to the table.

"Hufflepuffs, you'll be with me," Professor Vector said taking Neville's place.

"Gryffindors, quickly now," Hakkaman demanded.

The great uproar that resulted from everyone leaving the great hall at the same time was immense and way worse than the start of year feast. There, there was a measure of excitement and joy. This time, there was only dread and depression.

"Albus, Scorpius, down to the dungeons. Quickly now lads," Slughorn said.

"We're already packed," Albus responded.

"Have been for days," Scorpius confirmed.

"I'm going to help my sister and Hugo get sorted. We'll be back soon," Albus assured while following the Gryffindor's out of the hall.

Two columns of students, one Ravenclaw, one Gryffindor left the hall together, followed closely by the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins.

"Guess you're getting your wish a little early," Melissa said catching up to Albus and Scorpius with Dom in tow.

"I didn't want it to be like this," Albus said.

"I know," she said putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Be speedy, you two," Scorpius said. "We're all walking out of here together."

"Right behind you," Dom said as she and Melissa followed the Ravenclaws away.

Albus and Scorpius pushed their way through the other students to get to Lily and Hugo.

"Did you two do as I told you?" Albus asked quickly.

"Yes, I only need two minutes to put some of my books away," Lily said.

"Yeah, me too," Hugo agree though not very convincingly.

"Hugo," Albus glared.

"Alright, I might need five minutes," he admitted sheepishly. Of course, the son of Ron Weasley wouldn't be organized. It was moments like this Albus truly wished that Hugo had inherited a few more of his mother's genes.

"We'll help then," Albus growled as they all made their way up the staircase towards what was left of the portal.

"No, you bloody won't!" Aiden piped up from behind them. Rose was just beside him. "If you think any Slytherins are getting' in our common room after the Bogbombs, you've got another thing coming!"

"It's not going to be your common room in an hours' time ya twat!" Scorpius barked.

"They're closing the school down and you're still worried about house rivalry?!" Albus spat.

"No Slytherins!" Aiden yelled as if it settled the argument. He was actually being bumped out of the way by passing students.

"Ahh, forget it!" Lily huffed trying to stop what she could already see was a fight brewing. "I'll help Hugo, you two just wait outside, okay?"

"Agreed, Albus, stay by the entrance," Rose nodded.

"Fine. But I don't care if you're head girl, I want all three of you out here in ten minutes of I'm coming in to drag you out," Albus stated.

"Calm down, we're going!" Rose hissed back.

The three members of his family rushed off into Gryffindor tower. Albus and Scorpius could now see into the common room through the blasted open portrait where many students were practically tearing the place apart looking for books or work notes they might have lost under the sofas or behind the seat cushions.

Behind them, the staircases were alive with hundreds of students moving up and down, some carrying bags or helping other students while some seemed to be darting around completely oblivious to anyone else.

As he looked around, Albus couldn't help a pang of guilt hit him in the chest. Yes, he hated this castle. Yes, Scorpius and a few other dotted moments were the only good things that had happened to him while he was there, but seeing the panic and sadness on the faces of everyone else made him truly realize what the castle had meant to them. What it had meant to his parents. Even through the horrors they'd faced, they never given up on Hogwarts. They had fought and died to save the school. The blood of the fallen was etched into the stonework and now all those heroic, noble sacrifices were being ignored by him. Albus knew that he wouldn't even exist if it weren't for what they had done, and now he felt partly responsible for their legendary stronghold finally being conquered.

He tried not to look at them, instead spying the empty portraits and lifeless statues that covered the walls of the main shaft.

Except they weren't lifeless.

One of the statues turned its stone head to look directly at him. Then another, then another. Then they were all looking at him…and they were smiling.

Albus might as well have been stabbed in the gut. That's what it felt like to come to the realization that had just hit him. The statues and suits of armour had been watching him for weeks! There had been a suit of armour right next to him when he'd spelled out his plan to check the ministry archives! Horror shot through him.

The thing that had invaded the school had been watching him right from the start.

Before he had time to react, a great cracking noise sounded behind him, as if the walls had just broken. He turned, fully alert but there was no damage to the walls. Thinking quickly, he moved the portal hatch to see the frame where the Fat Lady had once been. The blank canvas had split and so had the stone behind it, but not it any random way. The cracks had formed words that said:

 ** _IT'S SHOWTIME_**

Then, as if the castle had literally collided with another castle, Hogwarts began to shake.

People screamed, walls shuddered and Albus and Scorpius were wrenched off their feet, hitting the deck and grabbing hold of whatever they could for support.

An earthquake was happening right inside the school.

"Lily! Hugo!" Albus yelled trying to make his way inside the Gryffindor common room but the castle was shaking so much he couldn't even get to his feet. He grabbed Scorpius by the arm, trying to help him stand but as soon as he got to one knee and another great wave of violent jolting stuck them.

It carried on for several more seconds before finally subsiding. The second it did, Albus and Scorpius were on their feet and tearing into the tower. They found Lily and Hugo huddled in the archway of the dorm entrence.

"Come on! Everyone out! Forget your trunks, come on!" Albus ordered, grabbing Lily's arm and pulling her to her feet. Scorpius did the same with Hugo.

"Was that an earthquake?!" Hugo yelled.

"Scotland doesn't have earthquakes!"

They all poured out of the common room with dozens of terrified Gryffindor's on their heels. The surge of people into the main shaft was immense. Every student from every house burst out from where they had been packing their things and charged down the stairs in search of the closest exit. Soon, hundreds of youngsters were tearing down the staircases and through the corridors. Around them, teachers tried to keep them from going completely wild but weren't succeeding.

Another blast of heavy vibrations shook the castle and people fell to the ground left, right and centre. Albus managed to keep Lily upright by grabbing hold of the banister for dear life while Scorpius used his own body to shield Hugo's impact on the ground.

There was a collective scream and a huge stone bricks fell through the air. The ceiling had collapsed in!

"Immobulus!" Hakkaman yelled with his wand raised causing the falling stone to freeze in mid-air. He gave his wand a quick wave and the bricks touched softly down on the ground away from any of the students.

Once again, the quakes ceased and nobody hesitated to start moving again. But the mass frenzy of panicking students had caused several gridlocks in the corridors and on the staircases. They began lumbering forward, many of the older students helping or even carrying the younger ones.

"Help! She needs help!" someone shouted from the ground floor.

"Eldridge, what's wrong?" Albus yelled back to his fellow Slytherin.

"The Dungeons are flooding! Zabini's trapped!"

He didn't hesitate. "Scorp, get them out!" he said pushing Lily towards him and rushing off. He shoved his way through the other students until he was low enough to jump over the banister down to the ground floor.

He bolted off towards the dungeons dodging the fleeing Slytherins as he went.

By the time he reached the entrance to the common room, there was a good foot of freezing water in the corridor. Only one wall and its magical protection kept the Black Lake from pouring into the lower levels of the school and those barriers were failing.

Cold immediately overtook his legs has he charged into the water, dashing straight into the common room.

"Help, somebody!" he heard Zabini's cries. She was close.

He splashed throw the icy water towards her voice and found her just where the common room led to the dormitories. And a bookcase had fallen and pinned her against the wall, trapping one of her legs. He rushed over and tried to lift the bookcase but it must have weighed twice what he did.

"Where's your wand?!"

"I don't know! I lost it when I got hit!" she screamed.

Albus looked around frantically. There were cracks in the windows and the lake was pouring in. If another quake hit them, they would break and thousands of tonnes of water would come crashing in. Something suddenly jumped into Albus' mind and he took off.

"No! Don't leave me!" Zabini begged.

"I'm coming back!"

He was having to do a sort of running jumping motion to move. The water was now up to his waist and he was starting to lose sensation in his feet. The twenty seconds that he was gone must have felt like hours to her because she crying when he made it back.

"Here," he said handing her a wand.

"This isn't my wand!"

"No, it's mine. Use it!"

 _"_ _Wingardium Leviosa!"_ she yelled pointing his wand at the bookcase which immediately lifted off her leg and hovered in the air.

Albus grabbed her arm and heaved her away before the bookcase came crashing down again. Her leg didn't seem too badly damaged because she was able to stand without limping. The two of them slugged through the water, back towards the portal.

They were right at the entrance when it began again. This time to quakes were even more violent than before. Albus gave one fleeting look towards the windows, just enough to see the large cracks spread and multiply. A second later they erupted and a tidal wave of water came towards them.

"Go!"

They got out of the entrance and Albus just had enough time to shove her aside and the cascade slammed into them. He was immediately engulfed and pushed forwards, slamming into the corridor wall while being churned and twisted by the unstoppable flow. He managed to push upwards and break free from the surface, gasping for air.

"Anya!"

"Albus!" she screamed from the other side of the torrent.

He caught sight of her through the gushing water. She had made it to the steps the led up to the main shaft but he was on the wrong side of the dungeon. The corridor would take him passed all the potions classrooms before other way up was available and the corridor was going to be underwater in a matter of seconds.

"Go, Anya! Get out now!" he yelled before taking a deep breath and diving back under.

He swam through the flooded corridor as quickly as he could but the cold was sapping his strength fast. The onsets of hypothermia were upon him and his lungs were starting to burn. He found a tiny outcropping in the ceiling at allowed him to put nothing but his mouth above the water and take another breath before continuing to swim. He rounded a corner, still able to feel the muffled shockwaves of the quakes even though the water. He made it to the end of the corridor but it was blocked. The ceiling had caved in and ten tonnes of rubble now blocked his way.

He wouldn't be able to hold his breath for much longer. He was about to try and get back to the alcove when gold light erupted around him and the rubble that blocked his way suddenly disintegrated into sand that swirled in the water.

Out of nowhere a hand reached through the murk and grabbed him, pulling him towards a light.

He burst from the water, gasping, eyes wide, desperate to find his rescuer.

Zabini had returned the favour. She was there, soaked and panicked, looking down at him. Next to her was an angel. A glorious, magnificent being that had just pulled him from the water. Zabini had gone and found his savour.

"Albus! Are you alright?!" Professor Bonde asking frantically.

"Thank you," he managed to breath.

She pointed her snakewood wand at him and he felt heat flood his body. His clothes dried instantly and he felt re-energized. Albus quickly climbed to his feet.

"Anya, are you okay?" he gasped.

"Am I okay, you just nearly –"

They were cut off by and great wailing siren that sounded out across the entire school. All the fires in the torches and braziers around the castle suddenly changed to burn with red flames. Bonde and Zabini looked around, startled by the sound. Before they could even ask, Albus answered with terror in his voice.

"That's the automatic lockdown! It's trying to seal us in!"

All the doors, windows and passages into the castle echoed with strange mechanical sounds.

"Go, run!" Albus yelled and the three of them charged back towards the main shaft where students were still trying to escape. The quakes continued, hard and fast, knocking people off their feet and causing the castles stone walls and ceilings to collapse. Dust filled the shaft as the corridor leading to the transfiguration classrooms came down, blocking it off.

The doors across the castle began sealing themselves shut, causing students to yelled and bolt off in other directions trying to get out.

The castle shuddered again but this felt different. There was a noise like a jet engine starting up and suddenly light exploded through the windows. A beam of pure energy had shot through the school and into the skin, then, like paint trickling down a wall, the light divided and began creating a dome.

A dome that was going to cover Hogwarts. A shield.

There was another great cracking noise from above and more of the castle broke away.

"Look out!" Albus shoved the two women with all his might and dived backwards with only a second to spare. Huge mounds of stone fell in front of him, blocking his way to the main entrance.

"Albus?!" Bonde screamed through the rubble.

"Get out! Get out of the school now!" Albus yelled back.

He turned to try and find another way but heavy and dull connected with the side of his head. His vision burst with lights before dimming. His body became heavy and he finally hit the ground, out cold.

The sounds of destruction, terror and screaming lingered in his ears for a moment before slipping away into nothing.


	13. The Slytherin Sleuth

**DAY 1**

The low, ceaseless patter of rain hitting something solid was the first sound that came back to him. As he began to wake, he could smell it too. Fresh, cold, clean rain and it was close by too. It took effort, but his eyes managed to open and eventually find their focus.

The second Albus tried to lift his head the pain hit him. A sharp horrible pain in the side of his head, just above his left ear. His arms felt much heavier than usual but he managed to life one of them to bring his hand up to the source of the pain. It became even sharper has he touched the wound and he winced. The sudden extra serge brought him back to his senses. The strength returned to his body and he managed to pick himself off the floor.

Again. he carefully brought his hand up to the side of his head. He could feel that his hair had become matted from the dried blood.

He had been there a while. Turning, he looked for the nearest window. He could see bright sparkling light coming through but it was way too strong to be moonlight. He slowly willed his legs to move again and approached the blown-out window in front of him.

The light was coming from an enormous iridescent shield that had domed itself over the entire castle. It touched the ground about fifty feet out from the castle walls and rose up at least four-hundred feet into the air. It was a perfect sphere, or at least half a sphere. Albus suspected that the other half passed underground. Hogwarts was sat right in the middle of a giant magically bubble and he had no doubt that that bubble was as impenetrable as his own mind vault. Beyond the shield he could see only darkness. It was night, and the attack had happened in the early hours of the morning. How long had he been out?

He looked around to get his bearings. He was in the corridor that led to the greenhouses, Hufflepuff dorms and the kitchens. Huge boulders of rubble were still blocking him off from the main shaft and the rest of the school. He looked down to see a small stone, the size of a bludger with dried blood on the side off it. He kicked the offending rock that had knocked him out away, as if it would make him feel better.

The castle was quiet. The ambient sound of rain was the only thing that kept it from complete silence. He forced himself to focus, ignoring the throbbing pain from his head. The only other way to get back to the main hall was to go through the passage near the kitchens at led back around past Filtch's office and into the main shaft. He began walking towards it.

But when he arrived at the entrance to the passage, he realized that the entire school was inside the bubble. The shield had melted straight through the stone walls and ceilings and was blocking off the rest of the corridor that continued to the Hufflepuff entrance, kitchens and greenhouses. It also meant that the path to the boathouse and the quad were cut off.

Albus picked up a small pebble of debris from the ground and flicked it at the shield. It disintegrated instantly with a small spark and hissing noise.

That shield was not to be messed with.

He turned and continued down the passage, passing Filtch's office and arrived back in the main shaft. It was a mess. A big chunk of the ceiling was gone and now laid strewn across the flood and staircases. The rain was pouring through the hole, soaking the floor with water.

It was strange. The shield seemed to be letting the rain through unharmed but it destroyed anything else. Maybe natural weather occurrences were immune to it?

Dust and water had mixed together on the floor creating a sort of grey paste that covered the entire area and he could see broken glass and even a smashed wind vane lying on one of the upper staircases. They were unmoving, locked in the same positions that they had been during the exodus.

Albus was about to head for the main entrance when he heard something. A low thud followed by a crunching sound. He cautiously approached the source of the noise that was coming from down the corridor that led to the viaduct outside.

When he rounded the corner, he saw a young boy, maybe a fourth year, desperately hauling rocks from where the corridor had collapsed and buried the way out to the viaduct. The mound of rubble was huge and he was only able to lift some of the lighter stones. His clothes were torn and covered in dust. He slowly approached the boy, beginning to make out his features. He had a heavily freckled face and a mop of messy light brown hair. He was quite scrawny but didn't seem to be running out of energy. His movements were jerky and desperate, high on adrenaline and fear.

He was so intensely focused on his task that he didn't notice Albus approach.

"You know," Albus said causing the boy to jump and whip around in fright, "that about thirty tonnes of rock. You'd have better luck with magic," he suggested.

"No! No magic! That's how it finds you," he whispered, eyes darting around all over the place, searching for something unseen.

The poor kid was freaked.

"How _what_ finds you?" Albus asked carefully while taking a small step forward.

The boy looked around again as if he were expecting something to jump out at him.

" _It!_ It's in the walls! It's in the floors! It's everywhere!"

Albus couldn't help but scan his surroundings as well but he saw no sign of everything.

"Have you seen it?" he dared to ask.

The boy shook his head frantically. "I don't want to see it!"

He was pale as death and shaking all over but seemed determined that he could single handily dig his was though the collapsed corridor.

"What your name? Which house are you from?" Albus asked.

"What?" he squeaked as if Albus had spoken I a foreign language.

"What's your name?"

"B-Ben…Hufflepuff," he breathed before going back to his rocks.

"Alright Ben from Hufflepuff, have you seen anyone else?"

Ben laughed but there was no humour in it. "What you think I've been looking? We've gotta get out!"

"I thought Hufflepuffs all stuck together," Albus couldn't help himself from saying.

"Yeah, we do, right up until a castle starts trying to kill us! Then, it's every wizard for himself!" he barked. "You gonna help me or not?!"

Albus stopped himself from yelling an angry retort. Ben was clearly terrified and wasn't managing very well.

"Alright, Ben, you need to come with me. We are going to check the rest of the school to see if anyone else got stuck inside," he said remaining calm.

"What?! I'm not going up there!" he panicked. "That thing is up there!"

"We can't stay here!"

"Shh, shh, listen," he said looking up as if he could see through the stone. "If you listen, you can hear it…moving around."

Only the rain was making sound at that point and Albus was way more concerned with the unstable look in Ben's eyes than whatever he thought was above them. But just as Albus opened his mouth to speak, something moved. It sounded like a mix between a rustling through bushes and someone tripping on their own feet. It came from down an empty corridor.

Albus instinctively moved to hug the wall and ushered Ben back as well. The noise that now sounded like footsteps was drawing closer. He turned to tell Ben to take cover but Ben was gone. He had bolted the second the noise had first been heard.

"Ben! Ben!" Albus whispered as loud as he could but the young Hufflepuff was gone.

The sound grew closer and closer until it was right around the corner from him. Albus decided not to wait to get hit. He would hit first. When he heard the crunch of dirt less than a foot away, Albus span around the corner and threw his fist out hard.

It collided with a face.

"Ahh! You wanker!" Scorpius yelped.

"Oh, shit! I'm sorry!" Albus said, relief washing over him like a bucket of warm water.

"Lovely welcome!" he growled angrily holding his cheek. "Been looking for you everywhere!"

"Lily and Hugo?"

"It's alright, I got them out."

"Then why the hell are you still here?!"

"You know, for a genius you can be a complete idiot sometimes!" he scathed. "I came back in for you!"

"Oh, I'm the idiot?! You should have stayed outside!"

"Would you have stayed outside?!"

Albus fell short at that. He was a lot of thinks but hypocrisy was where he drew the line. "That's beside the point!"

"It always is with you!" Scorpius growled.

There was a moment silence between them. In truth, Albus was split down the middle. He wanted Scorpius safe but at the same time, there was no one he would rather be trapped in the castle with than him.

"Sorry for punching you," he said meekly. "Is it just you?"

"Fraid not."

"Who else?"

"Zabini, Aiden…Rose," Scorpius looked guilty just saying her name.

Albus wanted to punch something. He had sworn that he would get his family out and he had failed. Being trapped in there with Aiden definitely wasn't good news. And Zabini?! How had that happened. He had pulled her out of the Slytherin common room before it flooded. What was she still doing in there?

"And, you'll either be delighted or horrified to know, you girlfriend in here too," Scorpius added.

 _Damn!_

The pain, anger and worry passed quickly as he remembered that she was the duelling champion of the wizarding world. Some people had even said that she was on the same level that Dumbledore and Grindelwald were at her age. He wished that she had gotten clear of all the madness but at the same time couldn't help but realize their odds dramatically improved with her there.

"She's not my girlfriend," he muttered.

"Alright, your dream girl then. And she's probably going to break my legs when she sees me."

"Why?"

"Well, she sort of ordered everyone to stay and I snuck out to look for you," he admitted.

"Stay where?"

"Headmasters office. The gargoyles aren't working anymore. Bonde thinks it's the safest place."

"Smart choice," he agreed.

"Okay, we need to go back this way, half the corridors are blocked," Scorpius said.

"Wait, there's a Hufflepuff kid called Ben, he was here a minute ago but he ran off, we need to find him," Albus said quickly.

"Ben? What years he in?"

"I don't know, third or fourth. We need to help him, Scorp, because he looked like he was two steps away from grabbing an axe and heading into a hedge maze!"

"Albus, I've told you before, I'm not good with muggle references!" he moaned.

"I still can't believe you've never seen The Shining!" he hissed back.

"You're right, because that is our biggest concern right now," Scorpius said sarcastically.

"Fine. He couldn't have gone far," Albus started walking back the way he came when a strange noise moved through the corridor. It sounded like metal scraping again stone.

Scorpius and Albus froze with their eyes pinned to the end of the corridor where the sound had come from. A shadow on the wall moved and a second later an unmistakable growl reverberated down the hall.

Something very big was coming their way.

"Go, go, go, go, go!" Albus whispered.

They shot off with Scorpius in the lead, running down passage ways and up an unblocked spiral staircase but the sound of screeching metal was following them. They kept running, past empty portraits and debris, drawing closer and closer to the headmaster's tower. It was only then that the scraping noise began to subside. Finally, they reached the Gargoyles that sat lifeless and askew, allowing anyone to walk past them.

Scorpius wrenched open the door to the headmaster's office but before he could even take a step inside, a hand grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him in before slamming him against the wall.

Rose's red hair might as well have been on fire because that's how angry she looked.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Malfoy?!" she roared. "Professor Bonde said very clearly that we were all staying in this office and two seconds later you leave! Are you actually suicidal or just plain stupid?!"

"Seal the door!" Albus yelled, pushing past Rose. "Something's coming!"

"What?!"

Albus slammed the door just as a blue light struck it from over his shoulder. The door glowed almost like a portkey for a second before returning to normal. Albus looked around the see Bonde with her wand raised. She had just put some kind of magical protection on the entrance. He pushed the undamaged side of his head against the wood to listen.

The sound of scraping had gone but he kept the feeling of relief at bay. Not until a good solid minute had passed without a sound did he finally back away from the door and let a heavy breath leave his lungs.

"It's gone," he said.

"What was it?" Rose whispered, her anger from a second ago seemed to have vanished as well.

"Didn't stick around to find out," Scorpius said.

"Albus, your head," Bonde said, stepping forward and pushing his chin to the right to see the gash above his ear. "What happened?"

"The school decided to take a cheap shot while I wasn't looking," he shrugged. He looked around and saw Anya Zabini, visibly shaking behind them all and Aiden not looking nearly as proud of himself as he usually did. His anger immediately jumped up. Other than their dishevelled states, they all seemed to be unharmed. "What happened? Why didn't you get out?!"

"We were out!" Bonde hissed at Scorpius. "Until this asshole decided to run back into the castle!"

"And you followed him?"

"I'm teacher! He's student! It was my responsibility to make sure everyone got out but the shield dropped before I could knock him out and drag him back!" she looked livid.

How was it that an unbelievably beautiful woman could become so utterly terrifying that you didn't want to look at them anymore? Albus certainly didn't want her directing that rage at him but he had no choice when it came to defending his best friend.

"It doesn't matter now," Albus stated. "We're stuck here. The only important part of how it happened is the shield, and what the hell is making it?"

"I never seen one like that before," Bonde admitted.

"I've never even heard of one like that before," Rose added.

"Well, it's letting the rain through it which suggests that it's also letting the air in too which means we don't have to worry about suffocating while we're here," Albus said logically.

Judging by the looks on their faces, that was a possibility that hadn't even thought of, which wasn't much of a comfort. He was already sure of what the answer would be but decided to ask the question in spite of himself. "Have you learned anything new?"

The people in the room glanced around at a loss for words. _Wonderful…_

He let out a deep sigh. "Alright…obviously it wanted everyone out of the school because instead of simply trapping all the students and staff inside, it shook the school, scared the shit out of everyone and made them leave, which would indicate that it is more interested in the school itself, rather than the people in it. That makes us unintended captives and unless it has a special interest in having hostages, then it will likely view us as something unwanted and to be removed."

Anya let out a squeak of fear and covered her mouth with her hand. Rose and Aiden visibly paled but Bonde stood defiant.

"Except…" Albus continued, brushing off their reactions, "it clearly has power over the entire school and yet it isn't attacking us right now which could mean that it doesn't consider us a threat. Either way, we need to be very careful not to antagonise it."

He took a quick look around the room. All the headmaster's empty portraits seemed to make the office seem a lot bigger and emptier. It was odd that none of the books had fallen from any of the dozen or so cases that they sat on but then it seemed perfectly possible that Torrens had placed a charm on them to make sure that couldn't become disorganized. In fact, the office seemed to be in a lot better shape than the rest of the castle.

"But we also know we're not the only ones trapped inside the school," Scorpius reminded.

"True," Albus nodded.

"You've seen other people?" Rose gasped.

"Just one. A Hufflepuff kid named Ben and his mental state seemed to be deteriorating by the second, so we need to find him," Albus explained.

"You want to go back out there?!" Aiden pipped up. "You two were just chased by Merlin knows what and your first impulse is to take a little stroll?!"

"Gryffindor, home of the brave," Scorpius spat whilst glaring at him.

"Yes! Home of the brave, not home of the certifiable!"

The second it looked like their comments could escalate into something else, Bonde stepped in. "Calm down, both of you. Before we even consider our next move, Albus, sit down and let me have a look at your head."

"It's a minor fracture, I'm fine," he waved off.

"Sit down!" the look in her eyes said that it definitely wasn't a request.

Albus immediately said on the closets stool he could find. Aiden actually looked like he was about to sit down as well but managed to fight the urge.

He very carefully and gently began moving aside the sticky clumps of his blood-soaked hair to get a better look at the wound. Each movement was quickly followed by a quick and sharp pain as if someone were jabbing a sowing needle into the side of his head.

"Ahh, careful!" he complained.

"Stop whining," she dismissed. "In my line of work do you honestly think I don't know how to treat wounds?"

That was true. He doubted very seriously that he looks would have remained so breath-taking if she hadn't known how to patch herself up on the spot.

"This is going to sting a bit," she warned.

Out of the corner of his eye a saw a low yellow light began to emanate from the tip of her wand and the area above his left ear started to feel very warm. Then there was a sudden crunching sensation and a dull throb his temple.

"That'll do for now. If we had some Dittany I could clear it up completely," she said.

"Well, unless there's been a cave-in, the hospital wing and the potion store room are still accessible. So is Slughorn's office, of course that still means venturing outside," Albus said.

"That's a bad idea," she warned.

"Do you honestly think that we are safe in here?" he asked. "Besides, we've gotta find that Hufflepuff kid."

"Albus, it's a huge castle and you don't even know where to start looking," Rose chimed in.

"What are you talking about?! We need to stay here until they can break through the shield!" Aiden yelled.

"They?"

"Look," Anya said pointing to the small balcony at the far end of the office. It wasn't much. Just a pair of thin double doors that opened up to a small ledge with a banister. A humble little spot where the headmaster could observe the majority of the grounds from.

Albus walked over as she opened the doors. Squinting slightly, he could make out dozens, no hundreds of dark spots moving around outside the shield. The ministry of magic and likely most of the other teachers were positioned around the parameter of the shield. No doubt probing it for weakness or trying to find a way around it.

"We've tried signalling them. Sent up sparks, drawn words in the air but they don't respond," she said sadly.

"One-way glass," Albus muttered.

"We can see them, they can't see us," she nodded.

They had certainly gotten there quickly and it looked as though they had set up several dozen large tents as well. Hermione's daughter was trapped inside the school and it seemed she was bringing all the power of the wizarding world to Hogwarts in order to get her back.

"I'm sure your dad is down there too. They're all trying to get us out," Anya said.

"I know but – IDIOT!" he suddenly leaped up. His mind was going into overdrive again which had the unfortunate effect of making it seem as though he was on some kind of acid trip. "Ahh! Stupid! Of course!"

"Albus! You're doing it again," Scorpius groaned. He had lost track of how many times he'd said that.

"Every time I think me and my dad are on the same page, it turns out we're reading different books!" he snapped. "Of course, that's why he was here!"

"What?" Rose said looking thoroughly confused. Aiden just looked like his theory that Albus was mad was finally being proven.

"Your mother said that they were looking into natural occurrences and behavioural explanations, so what was the head of the Auror department doing here? Auror's don't handle that sort of thing. Conclusion: my dad was here to give Torrens the map!"

"As in the map?!" Scorpius gasped catching on.

"What map?" Bonde asked.

"The Marauders Map. It's in this office!" Albus stated. When no one reacted, he got a bit annoyed. "Well, don't just stand there looking gormless! Search the place!"

He and Scorpius began frantically going through Torrens desk. Eventually the others did finally start to help but without the urgency that Albus was expecting. They didn't seem to think his theory was going to pan out until, while looking through one of the bookcases, Rose pull a book at turned out to be attached.

A low clunking noise sounded out and a small section of the wall opened up into a hidden compartment. Inside was a heavy black metal box with what looked like a miniature typewriter on the front of it.

"Secret book lever, classic," Albus grinned and hurried over to the wall.

"Oh, no," Rose sighed. "I know what that is. Mum's got one in her office."

"It's a safe," Aiden said, spelling out the obvious.

"It's not just any safe. That's a Bendihook, goblin forged safe. It's like a Gringotts vault that you can take home with you. They're supposed to be uncrackable," she explained woefully pointing to the tiny typewriter section. "And look, it's a ten-letter password. That could be about fifty million different combinations."

"People rarely use a random selection of letters for a password. It's usually a word they will remember," Albus said while studying the safe with interest.

"Professor Torrens is a very articulate man," Bonde said grimly. "It could be anything."

"Yeah. I didn't even know the word nepotism existed until I heard him say it," Aiden agreed.

"In what context?" Scorpius asked with a smirk.

Rose gave him a quick look of distain before turning to Professor Bonde.

"What do we know about him? He's Scottish which means it could be something in Gaelic," she suggested.

"I heard he was studying in eastern Europe while the war against Voldemort was happening," Bonde offered.

"He's only been headmaster for two and a half years. None of us know him well," Aiden said dismally.

"He's a half-blood," Zabini added but looked slightly ashamed the second she did.

They were all so wrapped up in their efforts to figure out the possible password that none of them were paying attention to Albus. Well, except Scorpius but he knew when to just sit back and observe.

Albus was scanning the room with his eyes like a seeker searching for the snitch. Suddenly reached down under the desk and came up with a slightly ostentatious beaded slipper in his hand. He looked it over for a second before dropping it on the floor. He then reached for a small glass orb on the desk. It looked a bit like a Remembrall but smaller. He lobbed it into the air where it froze and lit up like a tiny spotlight. When Albus moved away the little orb followed him before he snatched it out of the air again. The light faded and put it back on the desk.

"Having something to do with his posting at headmaster would be a little too obvious, don't you think?" Rose aske Bonde.

"For all we know, it's something from his childhood, which none of us know anything about," she said.

 _CRACK!_ Albus had opened the safe.

"Score!" he said to himself pulling out an old brown bit of bare parchment that was undoubtable the Marauders Map. "Bonus," he added while extracting a bottle of golden liquid. "Starthclyde, thirty years old. The man knows his scotch," he said looking impressed.

Everyone on the room with the exception of Scorpius was staring at him with their mouths agape. He had just cracked and uncrackable safe in less than a minute.

"Ha, look at that, he's a country and western fan too," he said looking at a ticket for a concert in Redding happening in July. "Scorp, I need you to do this, I haven't got my wand."

"What? Where's your wand?"

"Gave it to her," he nodded at Zabini.

"Why?

"Coz' she's better with it than I am," he stated.

Scorpius didn't seem to like the idea of Anya Zabini being in possession of Albus's wand but then he actually relied on his, unlike Albus. He pulled his own wand and was about to tap it against the parchment when Bonde interrupted.

"Albus…how did you do that?" she asked, still in disbelief.

"What? Oh, I used the password," he said completely causally before turning back to Scorp. "I hope this thing still works. I don't know how damage to the castle effects the map."

"I spos' we'll find out," he said.

"How? How did you get the password?" Bonde interrupted again. Rose was standing next to her and looked as if she was suffering from a full body-bind curse. Her brain seemed to have shorted out while trying to grasp what had just happened.

"I figured it out," he shrugged.

"How?" she asked more forcefully.

He glanced at Scorpius who just nodded as if to say: _you might as well_. He was used to this kind of thing from Albus but nobody else was.

Albus sighed. He didn't want to waste time but they clearly needed an explanation. "You've met him. He's got quite a dry sense of humour, don't you think? Now, look around. There is only one place in the school with more books than this room and that's the library. He likes to read. Even more evident by his slippers."

"Slippers?"

"The slippers are in good condition but the soles are worn. Never seen him wearing them around the school so he wears them in here. The orb on his desk is a simple enchantment, it works as a reading light. He reads while pacing the office at night, when he can't sleep, that's why the soles are worn. Not just a reader, an avid reader. Avid reader, dry sense of humour, ten letter password: _Illiterate_."

They all seemed utterly stunned that he had figured all that out in less than a minute. The only one that struck him was Bonde. It seemed as if she was truly looking at him for the first time. There was an unmistakable light in her eyes, something that had rendered her speechless. Albus couldn't let himself dwell on what that could mean though and so he turned back to Scorpius who tapped the parchment with his wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The map materialized on the paper and it soon became clear that it didn't update itself to show damage to the school. Areas they knew had collapsed looked perfectly normal on the map, not to mention it didn't show anything about the now flooded dungeons.

They both began searching the enchanted map for any signs of the young Hufflepuff but instead for something else. Something that made Albus's stomach plummet with despair.

Two names were visible in the astronomy tower.

Melissa Barker and Dominique Weasley.

They were trapped inside and that meant he was going outside to get them.


	14. Nemesis

"Albus, wait, stop!" Bonde tried but Albus was already moving towards the door.

"The astronomy tower entrance is a hundred and twenty-seven feet away, I can get to them," he said.

"Fine. I'll get them, you stay here," she ordered.

"They're my family, I'm going."

"Albus –"

"You're the most powerful person here. What if something attacks the headmaster's office while you're gone? You need to stay here and protect them; besides, I know the school better than you," he said quickly before she could mount another protest.

"No! You're a student, you're staying here!"

"It makes more sense for me to go and you know it," he growled.

"Oh, don't start that again!" Scorpius yelled.

"Start what?"

"Albus is of the belief that since he is the least talented with magic he is therefor the most expendable," Scorpius explained, not even trying to keep the accusation out of his voice.

"What?!" Rose shrieked.

"No one is expendable, Albus!" Bonde roared.

"We don't have time to argue! The Hufflepuff kid said if you use magic, it can find you. That makes me the best person to go. You've got the map, you can keep an eye on me," he yelled back.

He could see in Bonde's eyes, she was having trouble finding a counter-argument to his logic. Tactically it did make more sense for him to go but that didn't mean it wasn't a truly terrifying thought. Scorpius opened his mouth to speak but Albus was ready for his inevitable suggestion and closed him down before he could even start.

"Don't even think about it, you're staying here."

Scorpius didn't look pleased. Albus reached for the door but Bonde grabbed him by the arm, stopping him. He wasn't eager to try and fight her off but was sure he could slip past her if he waited for the right moment. Before he could do anything, she raised her wand and pointed it at his ear.

"Hold still," she ordered.

A high-pitched ringing erupted inside his ear drum but stopped a second later.

"Ahh, what was that?!" he gripped wiggling his finger inside his ear to see if she'd put something there.

"Xeno charm. I'll be able to hear you and you'll be able to hear me. Do not linger. Get your cousin then get your ass back here!" the fierceness in her voice couldn't hide the concern in her eyes. She didn't like this one bit but wasn't going to stop him.

Albus nodded, then slipped through the door, closing it quietly behind him.

He was back in the deserted and eerily quiet corridor again.

"Albus, can you hear me?" Bonde voice said in a slight echo. It was literally coming from inside his head.

"Yeah, loud and clear," he whispered.

"We can see you on the map. Get going," she said.

"Alright. Back in a bit."

Two lefts, up a spiral staircase and then another left would get him to the entrance to the astronomy tower. Then all he had to do was climb a ladder. It seemed simple enough and logic dictated that if Dom and Melissa had managed to gain entry to the tower it meant that there probably weren't any major obstacles. He knew the exact distance and could get there quietly; the only unknown was whatever had taken up residence inside the castle.

He proceeded along the corridor, making sure not to step on any of the rubble or broken glass until he reached the end.

"You need to take a left," Bonde's voice said.

"I know where I'm going," he hissed.

"Don't get snippy! I'm trying to help," she said back angrily.

"Thank you," he whispered.

Albus peaked around the corner. It was just as empty as the one he'd just moved through. He took the first left and hurried up the corridor as quickly as sound would permit. He passed more empty portraits and hopped over a broken pillar that had smashed against the floor.

"Albus, stop!"

"Why?"

"Albus…there's something in the corridor…" neither the spell or the woman herself could hide the fear in her voice.

"What?" his heart began to speed up.

"I don't know. The map can't seem to identify it…it just looks like some kind of distortion."

"Where is it?" he whispered, eyes darting around frantically.

"Outside Flitwick's office."

That was back the way he came and to the right, about sixty feet away. Running would be far too loud so he slowly started moving down the wall, still heading towards the astronomy tower.

"Albus," Bonde's voice shuddered. "It's moving! It's coming towards you!"

Heart racing, he picked up the pace, still trying not to give away his position. He reached the end of the corridor and took the second left. He got lucky. The passage that he'd entered was relatively free of debris so he was able to move through it more quickly.

"It turned the corner, it's following you!" she said urgently.

Albus rushed, light-footed to the end of the passage where the spiral staircase was. He was momentarily tempted to stop and wait. His analytical mind and insatiable curiosity wanted, needed to know what had taken over the school but his fight or flight response was stronger and forced him to keep going. He traversed the staircase and immediately took the final left, appearing in front of a large wooden door that marked the entrance to the tower.

It creaked slightly as he pushed it open and slipped inside. His shaking hands closed the door behind him and he backed away from it for good measure.

"Keep moving, it's still following you!"

Before he could move he saw beams of white light appearing through the crack beneath the door as if a giant search light was hovering just outside. The light got stronger and shone through the keyhole before filling the entire boarder of the door. A very low humming noise was coming from behind the door almost like there was a large engine several floors below.

But then is began to dim and disappear. The light was moving past the door.

"It's passing the astronomy tower," Bonde's voice whispered. "Don't move."

The light vanished completely and Albus dared to breathe again. What he and Scorpius had been chased by before had been a shadow that sounded heavy and clunky. He had imaged some grotesque monster chasing them down the halls but what had just passed seemed weightless and made of light. Where these two separate entities or was it just one that could shapeshift?

"It's still moving, heading towards the Divination classroom," she said. "Dom and Melissa are right above you."

Albus turned towards the steep ladder and began to climb. The hatch to the Astronomy level was closed. He opened it a crack as gingerly as possible.

"Dom, Mel?" he whispered.

Before he could even finish pushing through the hatch it was flung open and two pairs of arms grabbed hold of him.

"Albus!" Dom cried, throwing her arms around him in a hug.

"Christ, Albus! I almost hexed you!" Melissa said, joining the hug.

"Shh, keep your voices down," he insisted, breaking away from them. "Something followed me here but managed to lose it. It's still moving through the corridors though."

"What? What is it?" Dom whispered while turning pale.

I don't know but it's obviously behind all this," he said. "How did you two end up here?"

"We got cut off by the collapsing passages. By the time we got out, the shield came down but he caught a glimpse of people from the ministry apparating outside so we came up here to try and signal them," Melissa explained quickly and quietly.

"But they can't seem to see us," Dom added.

"I know. The others haven't had any luck either."

"Others?"

"Scorp, Rose, Zabini, Aiden and Professor Bonde are in the headmaster's office and there's a Hufflepuff kid running around somewhere," ALbus said.

"I think we saw him!" Dom exclaimed. "On our way up here, I thought I saw a young boy but he ran off before we could talk to him."

"Yeah, he's not taking all this very well," he nodded. "What? Yeah, they're fine."

"Who you talking to?" Melissa asked looking confused.

"Oh, Professor Bonde cast a spell that lets us talk to each other, but only I can hear her," he said quickly.

"We should try to get there. Strength in numbers and all that," Dom said, looking eager to be nearer to the world duelling champion.

"Alright, we need to move quickly and carefully. They've got the Marauders map and they'll let us know if that thing comes back but we still need to be careful. We move quickly and quietly and we do not slip up, understood?" Albus said and they nodded back to him.

The three of them carefully traversed the ladder back down to the entrance of the astronomy tower. Albus opened the wooden door just a crack to peer through. Outside looked completely empty.

"It's gone!" Bonde's voice made him jump.

"Gone, gone where?"

"I don't know," she said. "The distortion on the map just vanished."

"Alright, let's not stand on ceremony," he said to the other two and slipped through the door. All three of them bunched together tightly and went back down the spiral staircase. They quickly arrived back on the same floor as the headmaster's office, looking around in every direction. Albus signalled them to follow him and they continued to move.

"Albus! It's back!"

"Where?!"

"Your nine o'clock! The hall of hexes!"

"Shit!"

If it moved quickly it could catch them at the intersection ahead. He looked around at anything that could potentially be useful but apart from some rubble and a bunch of empty portraits the hallway was empty. He thought fast.

It was time to do something a bit mad.

He turned back to Dom and Melissa. "You two, keep going down this corridor, take two rights and you're at the headmaster's office. Stay low and stay quiet!"

"What?! What are you doing?!"

"I'm gonna draw it off, I'll loop around on the sixth floor and come back up from the Ravenclaw side, don't argue, just go! It's coming!" he said, physically pushing them to move.

Before they could protest, Albus shot away from them. He picked up and broken rock from the floor and threw it down the corridor where it bounced off the walls making a racket that echoed. He spared a glance back to see Dom and Melissa ducking down and shifting away.

"Albus, it's coming right at you from the –"

A high-pitched screeching sound filled his ears that was like nails on a chalkboard. The hairs all over his body stood up and shudder went through his body.

The thing, whatever it was had just broken the Xeno charm. It knew he was there and Bonde couldn't help him anymore. Albus bolted, not caring how much noise he was making. The more the better if it helped Dom and Melissa get clear.

Around the corner he saw white light begin to fill the corridor.

It was close.

He continued to run as fast as he could, shooting down another staircase and arriving on the sixth floor. The stained-glass windows along the wall told him he was heading towards Slughorn's office. He turned back to see where the light was but as he did the windows around him suddenly exploded.

Coloured glass flew everywhere but miraculously missed him. He took flight down the corridor but the windows continued to detonate behind him as if the blasts were following him. With no other choice, he dived through a door on his left and crashed into the study of ancient runes classroom. He was about to look for somewhere to hide when the door slammed shut behind him.

There was a seconds pause and then the classroom windows exploded as well, showing the entire place with shards of glass. Albus hit the deck, covering his head with his arms as broken pieces rained down on top of him. A moment passed and the chaos stopped.

After the breaking and smashing sounds died down, only a light breeze could be heard coming through the now blown out windows and the low flapping of the curtains. Albus slowly lowered his arms and looked around. There was nothing but a destroyed classroom.

He got to his knees, then to his feet still looking around frantically. That's when he saw it.

One of the curtains was drifting back and forth in the wind but when it fell back towards the destroyed window, it outlined something. A human silhouette, as if someone were leaking behind it but when it drifted open again, there was nothing there.

A moment later the breeze died down and the curtain fell on the outline again, only rippling slightly at the edges. He could clearly see that it was a woman. A tall woman with a very shapely figure. The curtain even managed to display her hair. Long locks fell over her shoulders, down to her ribs. None of her features had detail, it was just a rough outline, like a statue that hadn't finished being moulded.

With no other defence, Albus decided to take a chance. He spoke.

"Who are you?"

The figures head lopped slightly to the left. "I'm more interested in who you are, Albus."

Her voice seemed to be coming out of the walls themselves. It was smooth and sultry; the way lovers would speak to each other when they were alone.

Albus tried to steady his breathing. This was the last thing he had been expecting but it was certainly better than being murdered horribly so he decided to try and keep her talking.

"Well…it sounds like you already know who I am."

"I know who you think you are. I want to know who you really are," she said almost playfully. She was well spoken and had an upper-class English accent.

"Who I _think_ I am?"

"You think you're a mistake, an accident. Surely a member of the great and powerful Potter family should have some magical talent, some flying abilities, some heroic adventures under his belt? But, no…you don't," she said. Her shape started to move, walking to from one fluttering curtain to another, temporarily vanishing in the gaps between the windows. "You're not an accident, Albus…you're different…just like me."

"I'm more of a venetian blinds kind of guy," he said instantly regretting the words that had just come out of his mouth.

But she didn't lash out…she laughed. A warm, whimsical laugh that echoed around the room.

"And you like muggles. I like them too. You feel like you belong with them, belong in their world," she said casually.

"No Wifi in the wizarding world," he said, a little more confident about cracking jokes.

"What a strange bird you are," she said and he was sure that she was gazing right into his eyes even though he couldn't see hers. "A wizard that wishes he were a muggle. I like you."

The way she said it made him instantly think of a bold woman that had set her sights on getting a specific man in a bar or club and having the unyielding confidence to flat out tell him what she wanted. He would have been flattered if he weren't terrified.

"I'm glad to hear that…does that mean you're not going to kill us?" he asked with an awkward smile.

"Why, do you want me to?"

The sweat patches under his arms were growing very quickly.

"No, no! I don't want you to hurt anyone!"

"Then I suggest you lot behave yourselves and I won't have to do anything memorably horrific," she said, her voice still teasing.

"Of course, we don't want to get in the way of…well, whatever reason you've come to our school," he said amicably.

"It's _my_ school now."

Those words were like a bucket of ice water in the face. True, he had no love for Hogwarts, but now, under her control, it wasn't a school anymore…it was a prison.

 _Keep her talking_. His mind urged.

"You've been here for a while?" he asked.

The silhouette in the curtain nodded. "I got here before you."

"Can I ask why you've come?"

"You can ask me anything, Albus. I won't lie. I hate liars. There are so many in the wizarding world. But, to answer your question; I'm here to learn," she stated.

"Learn?"

"This is a school, isn't it?" she asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, but I –"

"You thought that something as powerful as me would also be far more knowledgeable that anyone else?"

"Well…yes."

"The first step towards true wisdom is understanding just how little you know," she said proudly. "And I have much more to learn…and, I don't mean to be rude but I am rather busy. I just wanted to take this chance to have a little chat. Next time don't run and I won't have to ruin the windows."

"Sorry," Albus said sheepishly.

"Bygones. I've enjoyed this. We'll talk again soon," she stated making sure he realized it wasn't a request.

The door to the classroom crept open as a clear sign that he was free to go. He slowly began making his way towards it when she spoke again.

"You're a smart man, Albus, but, like me, you still have more to learn. Don't worry…I'll teach you," she purred and he could have sworn he saw her lick her lips.

"Do you have a name?"

"You can call me…Nemesis."

And just like that, her presence disappeared. The curtains continued to flop around but now there was nothing behind them.

Like a zombie, he continued to walk, out of the classroom and back towards the headmaster's office. His mind was a vortex of questions and theories but one thing was standing out against the rest.

She wanted to be known as _Nemesis_.

That meant that this was just the beginning.


	15. The Things You Learn About People

"Albus!"

"Are you alright?!"

"What happened?!"

"Are you hurt?!"

He was bombarded by questions the second he got back to the headmaster's office but Albus was far too dazed to actually answer. The door had been unlocked so they must have been using the map to track his return. He couldn't even express his relief that Dom and Melissa had made it back safely. He drifted past them and plonked himself down in a chair, completely oblivious to the fact that they were all staring at him; waiting.

They all looked shaken. Anya was pale, Dom, Melissa and Rose were visibly shaking an Bonde looked wound up like a spring. After a few agonizing moments, Albus managed to compose himself enough to communicate.

"There's good news and bad news," he breathed. "The good news is that as long as we don't do anything stupid, she won't kill us."

"She?" Scorpius asked looking shocked.

"Yeah, that's part of the bad news," he nodded, swallowing hard.

"Albus," Bonde said in barely more than a whisper. "What happened?"

He looked into her eyes. He needed those fierce sapphire eyes to bring him back to himself.

"We talked…"

"What was she like?" Scorpius asked. "Come on, you're good at this, Albus, how did she strike you?"

Scorpius knew what he was doing. Seeing his friend shaken like that had made him want to help and the best way he knew how was to get Albus to turn off the emotional side of his brain and use only the analytical side.

"Umm…intelligent, sophisticated, focused, seductive, she's incredibly angry and she is gunning for revenge," Albus stated.

"Revenge?!" Rose asked looking shocked.

"Yeah, she called herself Nemesis," he answered flatly.

"Subtle," Melissa quipped.

Albus stood up and started pacing. Scorpius' push to focus on the facts was working and he was going back into scientific mode. "Nemesis was the ancient Greek Titan of retribution. She punished injustice and had a fetish for seeking out people with big egos and knocking them down a peg or two," he explained.

"So, she's here for Aiden?" Scorpius couldn't help himself saying.

"Piss off, Malfoy!" Aiden growled back.

"She's not here for any of us. If she were, I promise we would all be dead by now and I doubt that she is the actual Titan of retribution. She is, however, extremely pissed off."

"How do you know?" Rose asked.

"The way she talked. She was acting casual but she also couldn't stop herself from taking digs at the wizarding world. She said it was full of liars and she boasted about being in control of the school but, I don't know, she seemed more pleased about the distress it was creating than having taken it."

"So, she has a grudge against some or all of the wizarding world and we just happen to be caught in the middle?" Scorpius summed up.

"Yeah, pretty much. And, sorry to break it to you, but she didn't seem like she was planning on leaving any time soon so I doubt we are either."

"Did you ask if we could leave? Nicely?" Melissa tried.

"I didn't want to push my luck. She's already proven that she can become violent."

"So, we're hostages!" Anya spat.

"Fraid so," Albus said.

"No! I can't be trapped here! I can't –"

"Calm down, Anya," Bonde said trying to sooth her.

"Calm down?! We're at the mercy of some monster that has trapped us inside the school!" she was panicking.

"Anya, we are going to be okay, I promise," the professor continued to try and reassure her. "But, we have to keep our heads."

Anya was on the verge of hyperventilating and possibly passing out.

"Anya, you can't get worked up like this," Albus said.

"You, you standing there and acting all calm! I know you're lying! I know you're just as scared as –"

"Anya, it's not good for the baby," Albus said loudly.

The entire room froze with all eyes on Anya Zabini who looked as if he'd just slapped her.

"You've got to be joking!" Melissa barked, breaking the silence.

"No! No…h-he's lying! I'm not…I'm not…" Anya spluttered looking even more panicked than before.

"You throw up in the mornings, you always look tired and…forgive me for being blunt but your boobs have gotten bigger," Albus said none-to-gently. "All signs that you're pregnant."

"Hold on, you only turned seventeen two weeks ago and it's impossible to have underage sex in Hogwarts." Rose interjected sounding like she was sighting a textbook.

"I don't think we're the only ones that had a party right before returning to Hogwarts," Albus offered. "Which would put you about three months along?"

Zabini was still too startled that he had blurted her secret out to respond but there were definitely tears appearing in her eyes.

"I'm sorry for outing you like this," Albus said softly. "I've known for weeks and haven't told anyone and wouldn't have told anyone but the situation has changed. Anya, I promise I am not going to let anything happen to you or your baby."

At that she burst into tears causing Bonde to immediately stride over and pull her into a hug.

"You could have handled that a bit better, Albus," she scorned.

"Well, keeping it a secret wouldn't have helped, would it?"

"It's alright sweetie, you're gonna be okay," Bonde whispered to Anya while she sobbed into her shoulder. "I'll admit, this does complicate things."

"Agreed. I'm gonna recommend that she take Torrens bed. We'll have to make up some bunks, get some mattresses in here, there should be enough space."

"That means we have to go outside," Dom said with a shudder.

"Yes, but like I said, as long as we don't do anything to anger her, I don't see why she'd care," Albus informed.

"And what if she changes her mind?" Melissa had to ask.

"Fine, stay. I'll go. Scorp?"

"Yeah, why not," he shrugged.

"Nice one. That brings us to the next problem; food. We can use the Agumenti charm for water but food is going to be more difficult. The shield cuts off the Hufflepuff common, the greenhouses and the kitchens," he said.

"There's probably a few things in the staff room," Bonde said still rubbing Zabini's back. She seemed to be calming down a little.

"I was hoping you'd say that and I think I know where there might be more," Albus smiled.

"Where?"

"Third year dorms. First visit to Hogsmead, the third years practically loot the village. They raid Honeyduke's like a bunch of Nifflers at a diamond exchange. I bet you anything, they've got food stashed away," he said.

"We should stop off at the Hospital wing and the potions supply cupboard as well. See what we can scrounge," Scorpius suggested.

"Good idea," Albus nodded walking over to the map that was still laid out on the headmaster's desk. "We're going to have to mark the map so we know all the areas that aren't accessible anymore. We know the dungeons are underwater and a bunch of the other corridors have collapsed. And, make sure someone is watching the map at all times. See if we can't find that Hufflepuff kid while we're out."

"Hang on a minute!" Aiden said marching up to the other side of the desk. "Exactly when did you become the leader here?" he growled.

"Oh, we held an election back in November, didn't anybody tell you?" Scorpius hissed sarcastically.

"Shut it, Malfoy! Am I the only one that thinks it's a bit strange that he goes into a room alone with whatever that thing is and then comes back acting like he's got all the answers? How do we know it's not controlling him? How do we know he's not working with it?!"

"Because he was the one trying to warn everyone that it was here in the first place, ya plank!" Scorpius barked back. "And it was muppets like you that didn't believe him!"

"Really, coz that sounds to me like he wanted everyone out of the school so this thing could take over!"

"I wanted everyone out of the school because I was trying to protect them and that is exactly what I'm doing now!" Albus yelled.

"Alright, everyone calm down," Bonde said. She was forced to extract herself from Anya and walk over to them.

"Aiden, he's made some very good suggestions," Rose agreed.

Anya retreated away from the aggression and sat down against the wall. Dom's looking concerned and sympathetic when over and sat with her.

"Except they're not suggestions. He's acting like he's in charge! Professor Bonde is the only teacher here, she should be the leader," Aiden said, now red in the face and close to pulling his wand.

"She is in charge and she is going to be looking after your ungrateful ass while me and Scorp go get supplies!" Albus said while seething equally.

"Of course, you two wanna go! You're Slytherins. Probably eat half the food for yourselves!"

"Are you honestly this stupid?! You think we'd actually take food away from a pregnant girl?!"

"Or maybe you just wanna sneak off to have little snogging session instead," he spat.

Without hesitating, Albus reached across the table, grabbed Aiden by the scruff of his neck and slammed his head into the wood. There was a great bang and then Aiden head shot up from the desk. His eyes were wide and his mouth seemed to do an impression of a Saint Bernard before he collapsed onto the floor. Rose shrieked in horror and rushed to his aid.

"Albus!" Bonde yelled angrily.

"He slipped," he said instantly.

"It is a bit dump down there, be careful," Scorpius nodded completely ignoring the fact that he'd just assaulted another student.

"Did he hit his head?" Albus asked with fake concern.

"No! _You_ hit his head!" Rose screamed.

"Oh, he should probably lie down while we go get supplies. Back in jiffy," he said happily.

"Aiden, are you alright," Rose asked frightfully while helping him back to his feet.

He looked like he was confounded because his eyes were unfocused and he had an odd little grin on his face. "Sandwiches…" he mumbled like an infant.

"I'm not a bloody waiter!" Albus growled as he and Scorpius head towards the door.

"You sure she's going to be alright with this?" Scorpius asked in a whisper.

"I'll ask."

They stepped out into the corridor, leaving the gargoyles and the entrance behind. They walked off towards the entrance to Gryffindor tower and soon found themselves standing in front of one of the many statues the school had. It looked like it was of some kind of knight complete with stone helmet, chest plate and sword. Only a moment passed before its head moved to look at him.

Scorpius instinctively reached for his wand but stopped himself from actually gripping it. Neither of them could hide their nervousness.

"Umm…hello…we're err, just going to find some food," Albus said awkwardly. "Is that okay?"

The statue continued to stare at them for a second then its head went back to its normal position.

"I think that's a yes," Albus said unconfidently.

They set off again trying to move as silently as possible. Even though it seemed as if they were allowed to move around the school, every step was taken with care. They didn't know what might anger Nemesis and what she'd simply ignore and didn't want to take the chance of aggravating her. She had said she was 'busy' so loud noise might interrupt her.

Eventually, they made it to the Gryffindor common room entrance. It was still ajar from being blasted open before the castle had started doing the lambada.

Inside it was a mess. Chairs were toppled, books were spread across the floor, bookcases had fallen over and even the large hanging chandelier had smashed against the ground leaving glass and candles everywhere. They stepped over the debris and went into the dorms.

Dozens of trunks had been pulled from under beds and laid out. The whole school had been caught in the middle of packing so their possessions were everywhere. Empty owl and rat cages where peppered around the dorm and much of it was covered in dust which had fallen from the ceiling during the shaking. They started to look around and It took less than a minute for Scorpius to spot a whole bag full of chocolate frogs tucked into one of the trunks. Underneath it was a box of sugar quills.

"Bloody hell," he said. "Even we didn't bring back this much stuff."

"I thought the third years were looking a little flabby," Albus shrugged.

After a bit more digging around they found more and more hidden sweets and soon needed to empty out one of the third years trunks in order to carry it all. Afterwards they started checking the fourth and fifth years dorms. Naturally, they found half of Honeyduke's inventory inside Hugo's trunk and decided to hall it back as well but not before making a quick sweep of the sixth years dorms.

It was then, things started to get weird.

While Albus was looking out of the window at the shield surrounding the school, Scorpius pulled a pair of black stockings from a trunk belonging to a boy named, Ian Melvin.

"Why would he have these?" Scorpius asked looking very confused.

"Err, maybe he was planning to rob a bank?"

"He's got three more pairs in here!"

"Okay…maybe he just really wants to keep his legs warm?" Albus said but knew they were both thinking the same thing. Ian liked to wear women's underwear.

"Let's not talk about this to the others," he said dropping the stockings as if they were contagious. It was amazing the things you could find out about people when you completely disregarded their privacy.

"Agreed, but it has just reminded me of something," Albus sighed.

"What?" Scorpius asked looking slightly worried.

"Our little group is made up of three blokes, five women, one of which is pregnant. I'm sure they are going to need some…lady stuff," he said awkwardly.

"Ah…right…but how are we supposed to get them? Blokes aren't allowed in the girl's dorms."

"You could try putting on Ian's stockings and then going up there?" he suggested with half a smirk.

"Piss off!"

"Alright, we'll just have to get one of them to…" Albus trailed off deep in thought. A theory was brewing.

"What?"

"This school took a hell of a knock and now Nemesis is in control of it. What are the odds that the spell might be broken?" he asked.

"One way to find out," Scorpius sighed.

Very slowly and gingerly, Albus began ascending the stairs to the girl's dorm while Scorpius waited at the bottom with the trunk full of sweets. They both kept waiting for the stairs to become a slide and Albus to go crashing down but it didn't happen. He reached the top and gently pushed open the door.

"Looks like the enchantment's broken," he said stepping inside.

Scorpius left the trunk at the bottom of the stairs and followed him up.

To their surprise the girl's dorm was even more of a mess than the boys but then again, woman tended to own a lot more things than men so there was therefore much more to go flying when the school had suffered a series of personal earthquakes.

How they managed to fit so many clothes inside a single trunk, Albus didn't know but he suspected an undetectable extension charm may have been involved. Bra's, leggings, knickers, socks, tights and God knows how many shoes made it look as if there had been an explosion in a Prada warehouse.

Mixed in with the fashion battlefield were books, quills, ink bottles, letters and a lot of make-up. So much make-up.

"Why don't they just use Polyjuice? It only takes a month to make while _this_ looks like a life's ambition," Scorpius said.

"I'm actually starting to wonder if I've ever seen what Dom and Melissa really look like," Albus agreed.

With no idea what women thought was indulgent and was considered necessity, they just started grabbing things at random. Oblivious things like toothbrushes and toothpaste, where immediately picked up but other things like teeth whitener and fake tan where left behind. Albus reached to grab what he thought was a box of tampons but turned out to be something called: _Eagliblot's Enchanted Wax Strips_ – _Guaranteed hair removal for up to four months_ – _Consult a healer before using on private regions._

He dropped the box looking a little bit frightened. The things women went through to make themselves gorgeous…it boggled the mind. He'd always thought Bonde was just naturally made that way. The idea that she could have hairy legs seemed absurd but apparently, he was mistaken. No wonder he'd never had a girlfriend. Even with all the knowledge in his mind vault, these little things about the opposite sex escaped him.

He finally did manage to find a box of tampons and when he looked up to see Scorpius trying to figure out who a particularly heavily padded bra belonged to, he decided it was time to go.

Levitating the trunk through the corridor they eventually found the main shaft where the grand staircases remained locked in the same positions as before. The usually moving staircases were all connected to different floors and didn't seem to have been damaged during the quakes but the ceiling at the very top and caved in and now sported a huge crack across it.

They moved down the stairs, passed the fallen rocks and one broken weather vane until they were back on the first floor. Most of the damage seemed to be localised to that floor because it was where several corridors and passage ways had collapsed and the floor was covered in broken glass and stone.

Luckily the passage to the staffroom remained open and like the headmaster's office, the gargoyles that protected the entrance no longer functioned.

More evidence to support his theory.

"That's what she's doing," he whispered.

"What?"

"She said she came here to learn and that she was busy. That's why she waited so long before revealing herself! She was learning how the school worked, how the enchantments functioned!"

"That's terribly fascinating, Albus, but it doesn't really change our current situation, does it?"

"No, you don't get it! She's busy and now the gargoyles don't work and we can get into the girl's dorms and…she's draining the school!"

"Draining it?!"

"Like a vampire. She's consuming the magic of the school, using it to power herself up!" he said equally amazed and frightened. "That's why she wanted everyone out, she's not interested in the students or the teachers, she just wants the magic of the school!"

"Albus…nothing can just… _feed_ on magic!"

"Nothing we know of," he said.

And just like that, he knew what he had to do. The only thing he could do.

"Come on, let's check in here and get back, we can search the hospital wing later," he said focusing on the task at hand.

Inside was a bit less of a mess but then the staffroom seemed a bit bare. Just a few sofas and decks, a tea pot, and few cupboards, some copies of the Daily Prophet and Quibbler and what looked like an ashtray. _Hmm, how many of the teachers smoked?_

Albus pushed the question out of his mind. That wasn't what they were there for. Searching the room didn't take long and they quickly found some crackers, biscuits and cheese in one of the cupboards. When they checked a cabinet that had a few smashed bottles in front of it they found three, still intact, bottles of Brandy. They were sitting on a shelf marked: End of Term.

Apparently, the teachers like to raise a glass at the end of the school year. Between them and the scotch in the headmaster's office, Albus was sure that there was a lot more booze in the castle than he'd ever realized. He decided to take the Brandy. _It could be used for medicinal purposes after all…and other things._

On the way back, they stopped at a door they hadn't considered looking in. The plaque on the front of it read: _Argus Filtch – Hogwarts Caretaker._ He remembered his dad telling him that Fred and George Weasley had stolen the Marauders Map from Filtch's office when they had been at Hogwarts. It was difficult to imagine how differently things may have turned out if that map, designed by his father and friends, had never found its way back to Harry Potter.

That reason alone made Albus think he should take a look inside.

The words; _Hording Problem_ , didn't even begin to cover it. There was an array of random confiscated items the likes of which they had never seen. Oddly shaped boxes, broken broomsticks and long dead fanged frisbees were just a few of the things that were sticking out of stacks of rubbish that the caretaker had accumulated over the years.

"What's all that?" Scorpius asked pointing to a stack of colourful backpacks in the corner.

"Oh, muggle hikers and backpackers. They get too close to the boundaries and the anti-muggle wards kick in. Sometimes their brains go so fuzzy that they just wander off and leave half their stuff behind. Hagrid's always finding it," Albus explained as he grabbed one of the packs and tipped it out on the floor.

A smashed torch, tent pegs, plastic containers and other camping gear fell out. Albus started going through it, please for the little reminder of the muggle world that he was missing.

"Fried GPS," he said picking up the frazzled device. "Insect repellent, goggles…oh, magnesium flares!" he quickly pocketed the red sticks and continued. He checked the containers and was pleasantly surprised. "These can't be that old because this coffee smells okay."

The other containers held tea bags and sugar which he handed to Scorpius to be put in the trunk.

"Grab that too," he pointed to a silvery metal pot. "So we can boil water."

"Good thinking," Albus said snatching it up. As he did, he knocked the backpack and something rattled. He reached inside and pulled out a small plastic bottle. "Multivitamins, should give these to Anya."

He pocketed the bottle and stood up. They were about to leave when something caught his eye.

"Noooo," he laughed.

But it was. A _Skiving Snackbox_ sat next to Filch's cluttered deck.

"Uncle George and his brother made these when they were in their fifth year," Albus said gazing at the box. It looked truly dilapidated and was falling apart and yet, nothing was stacked on top of it. In fact, it seemed to have a space all to itself.

"That's over two decades old. The sweets have probably grown eyes by now. Why would he just throw it out?" Scorpius asked.

"A reminder…or a salute?"

"To Fred and George Weasley? I thought they terrorised him?"

"Him and the rest of the school. But they still fought and Fred died for this school," Albus said solemnly.

"You don't think that he…misses them?"

A smile grew on Albus's face. "Well, well, who'd have thunk it?"

"So, the miserable old git actually does have a heart," Scorpius laughed.

"Spos it couldn't have been easy for him. Being born a Squib inside a magical world…I know the feeling," Albus admitted.

"You're not a squib, Albus."

"I'm as close to one as a wizard can get…and yet…she likes me," he said suddenly looking very confused.

"Who?"

"Nemesis…she said…she likes me."

"Oh good, the frighteningly powerful entity that has taken over the school and is holding us all hostage _'likes you'_. That's a real comfort!" Scorpius said with enough sarcasm to flood the library.

It was good. She said they would talk again and that meant, if he was careful, he had a chance. It was a terrifying idea but it was the only one he had. If he had any chance of getting them out of there, of reasoning with her or maybe even stopping her…

He would have to get to know her and that was exactly what he was going to do.

It was time to make friends with Nemesis.


	16. Lesson Number One

There was a collective gasp when Albus and Scorpius returned to the headmaster's office. Even Rose seemed to have forgotten that her cousin had knocked out her boyfriend just moments before leaving and now seemed more interested in what they had brought back. Albus was leaning over the trunk they had used and was pulling different items from it to show the rest of the captives their haul.

"Here," Albus said tossing the bottle of multivitamins to Anya. "I've given you my wand and now vitamins, don't expect anything for Christmas," he said nonchalantly.

She just gave him a look of annoyance. Her eyes were still a little red from the crying but she seemed to have calmed down quite a bit and had actually looked relieved when Scorpius and Albus had returned unharmed and with food no less.

Aiden on the other hand was slouched against the wall with a nasty red mark on his forehead and was probably weighing the possibility of getting away with strangling Albus in his sleep.

"You have a funny idea of what food is, Albus," Bonde said unamused when she discovered the bottles of brandy they'd brought with them.

"It's fifty-five proof. They can be used as a disinfectant," he grinned.

"What strength is the whiskey?" Scorpius asked.

"Seventy."

"Sweet!" Melissa said reaching for Torrens bottle of scotch.

It shot off the table and into Bonde's hand by a flick of her wand. She also snatched up the brandy, stuffed them in a draw and then waved her wand over it, enchanting the lock.

"I know exactly how you react to whiskey and I think we all need to keep a clear head at the moment," she said crossly. Albus and Melissa looked downtrodden.

"Got tea, coffee, sugar, founds some mints…anybody like Stilton?" he said holding up the mouldy blue cheese. When no one answered he just shrugged and put it back in the trunk. "We didn't get a chance to check the hospital wing or the potions cupboard, we'll go tomorrow."

"Is this it? Crackers and chocolate?" Bonde asked looking concerned.

Albus couldn't help laughing. "We're trapped inside a school by an unparalleled malevolent entity but your biggest concern is your twenty-two-inch waist?" he smiled.

"I worked very hard for this waist!" she hissed.

"Oh, yeah…I still don't believe you," he said.

"I'm gonna punch you!" she wasn't bluffing.

"Believe what?" Scorpius asked.

"It's not important," Albus brushed off and when back to the trunk, purposely avoiding Bonde's eyes. Despite the annoyance, she also looked a little bit impressed. She was sure he would have told Scorpius about what they'd discussed but he hadn't. He'd kept it a secret, just like he'd promised and he hadn't told anyone about Anya's pregnancy even though he's known for weeks.

"We can use the engorgio charm on this stuff but I think we should still ration it," Scorpius said. "We don't know how long we're gonna be here."

"Until she's drained every last drop out of the school I suspect," Albus said.

When everyone in the room perked up and stared at him, he realized he had forgotten to share that information with them. He had been more occupied with what to do next.

"A lot of the basic charms around the school are failing. The stairs aren't moving, we can get into the girl's dorms, the gargoyles outside this office and staffroom…I think Nemesis is draining Hogwarts," he explained.

"Draining it?! But that's impossible!" Rose stated, looking truly shocked.

"It's happening, so obviously it's not impossible."

"Every witch, wizard and magical creature in the world is born with a certain amount of magic within them. It doesn't get and larger or smaller over time, it just becomes more refined. People learn to focus and master it. You can't just increase the amount of magic you have by pulling it from other places, it goes against everything we know!" Bonde said sounding very teacherly.

"You're preaching to the choir, Alex, I know exactly how little magic I was born with but the usual rules don't seem to apply to her. Somehow, she is absorbing all the magic in the school, how else could she be so powerful?"

Bonde was so struck by this new information that she had completely overlooked that fact that he'd just called her by her first name.

"Even Voldemort didn't have the power to completely override Hogwarts, if he did, there wouldn't have been a battle. She said that she'd been here for a while now, since before term started. I don't know how, but she slipped in undetected and has slowly but surely been taking control of this castle for months. Now the enchantments are starting to break down and the only reason I can see for that is because they are losing power. If she can control them, why would she intentionally weaken them? Conclusion: she's absorbing the schools power and using it to power the shield."

The room fell silent as they contemplated what this meant and soon the horror of it began to wash over them.

Nemesis was quite literally killing Hogwarts.

"Wha…What is she?" Dom asked breaking the silence.

"I don't know. I'll ask her the next time we talk," Albus said.

"What?! You're gonna talk to that thing again?!" Aiden leapt up and shouted but looked a little dazed straight after.

"She said she was going to talk to me which means I don't have a choice," Albus said.

"Why does she want to talk to you?" Bonde asked looking stricken.

"Because I'm different," he said in a hollow voice.

Those words hung in the air for a moment. Albus dared to look at the people around him and saw a mixed bag of emotions of their faces. Rose, Dom, Anya and Bonde looked frightened. Scorpius looked defiant. Melissa looked angry and Aiden looked suspicious. None of them knew how to handle this and Albus decided in that moment that he wouldn't be letting them in on his plan to get to know Nemesis.

He chose instead to try and redirect their thoughts to something more practical.

"Look, it's getting late. We should get some pillows and covers and stuff in here so we can all get some rest. Scorp, up for another trip to the Gryffindor common room?" he asked.

"Well, you can't carry a bunch of mattresses without a wand, can you?" he said standing up.

"We won't be long," Albus said.

This time there were no protests about their departure. They had been allowed out and to return before and what Albus had said made it clear that if any of them weren't in immediate danger from Nemesis, it was him. None of them were exactly comforted by the idea that she had taken an interest in him, but it was becoming plainly obvious that they were in her house now and therefor living under her rules.

She owned the school and she owned all of them and there was nothing they could do about it, at least not yet.

"So, who do you think the father is? And please say it's your brother because that would just be perfect!" Scorpius said once they were back in the corridor away from the others.

"Perfect? If I thought my brother was going to produce offspring I'd feel compelled to find the nest and destroy the eggs with a flamethrower," Albus said. "No, I think it's pretty obvious."

"She's been hiding it…the Zabini's are still pretty hardcore pureblood. You think she got knocked up by a muggleborn?" Scorpius asked looking surprised.

"My young apprentice is learning," Albus nodded proudly. "Muggleborn or muggle, only she knows."

"A muggle? Nah, she'd never sleep with a muggle."

"You sure about that? Your father spent his entire childhood as a pureblood elitist and a few years a death eater in Voldemort's company. Now he's even more understanding than my dad. If his point of view can change, why would hers remain like her parents?"

"Touché," Scorpius nodded. "You really think she banged a muggle?"

"I'd say there's a strong possibility," he shrugged.

"I'd love to see the look on old Blaise's face when he finds out," Scorpius chuckled.

"We'll have to get her out of here first," Albus said.

"I assume you're working on a plan?"

"You know me, Scorp…I'm always working on a plan."

They had to make an extra trip back to the Gryffindor dorms. The mattresses proved more difficult to move than they expected, not to mention pillows and duvets for eight people (Anya already had Torrens bed). It didn't take long for them to turn the Headmaster's office into a sort of tree house. Beds took up different sections of the floor making it a bit more difficult to move around but at least they had a decent amount of space.

Albus was a bit surprised when Bonde decided to set up her bed right next to his but quickly realized that she was actually positioning herself right in front of the door. If anything came through, she wanted to be the first to encounter it. Her protective stances over the others was waning, not matter how often she allowed him to take risks. Still, the idea that they were going to be sleeping right next to each other made Albus' stomach fill with butterflies.

Dom and Melissa where next to the wall and Scorpius hadn't looked pleased when Aiden suggested that he and Rose share a mattress. Many of the school's charms were failing and he was obviously worried that the one that prevented the students from having sex might be dying as well.

"We're going to be making another trip out tomorrow and we'll go to Ravenclaw tower as well so if there is anything you lot need…make a list," Albus announced.

Shortly after Anya scooted closer to Dom and said in a whispered voice. "I never imagined I'd have to ask you this but…can I borrow some of your underwear?"

"My –" Dom was struck dumb.

"Yes! The Slytherin dorms are underwater and you're the only one here with similar measurements to me."

"You'd be better with Abby Bordigan's stuff," Albus interject. "You're five-ten, she's five nine and a half, your hips are the same diameter and now you have the same cup size although she does seem to have a rather unhealthy obsession with lilac so if you don't mind the colour -"

Albus stopped talking when he realized they were looking at him with great concern.

"I mean…it was just a suggestion…" he scuttled away awkwardly.

He tried to busy himself by fluffing his pillow and ignoring the fact that Scorpius wanted to burst into laughter.

"Twenty-two-inch waist."

He turned to see Bonde watching him with a curious and amused look.

"Err, what?"

"My twenty-two-inch waist, you said that. And now you're telling Anya what underwear would fit her best. How do you know her measurements and more importantly, how do you know mine?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "I remember the Daily Prophet printing anything about that?"

"That's umm…I've always been able to do that," Albus said turning away to hide his reddening cheeks.

"And what's that?"

"Umm, distances, measurements, angles, I can just look and I know…I'm not a pervert!" he stated.

"I didn't say you were," she smiled. "A hundred and twenty-seven feet to the astronomy tower, I should have picked up on that sooner. Is that another part of your mind palace?"

"Mind vault," he corrected. "But, no. I've always been able to do it. You know how when a person loses their sight or hearing, the other senses get stronger to compensate?"

She nodded.

"Well, if you think magic is a sixth sense then it's one I'm lacking so the rest of my senses are sharper," he said simply. "You know a cheetah has binocular vision and can judge the distance between itself and its prey from over a mile away?"

"I'm not surprised that a cheetah can do it, Albus. I am surprised that you can," she said taking off her boots and getting into bed.

None of them were getting undressed, expect for Melissa who didn't give a shit what people thought. She was kicking off her jeans while Anya and Rose watched with surprise. Dom didn't seem surprised in a slightest.

"Falcons can do it too."

"Don't try and turn this around," she warned. "Your father has famously poor eyesight but you can judge distances just by looking at them, how does that work?"

Albus took his boots off as well and followed her lead by getting into bed until they were both lying side by side.

"You know…a lot of deeply religious people use eyes as proof of a creator, of intelligent design."

"You're not answering my question," she said in a sort of sing-song voice. The look in her eyes was the same as when he had been explaining how a mind palace worked; excited curiosity.

"I'm lending context," Albus said. "Our eyes aren't nearly as good as they once were. Billions of years ago, we could see with perfect clarity in our environment. Back when we were still marine lifeforms and living in the ocean. So, for me to say that I can do what a cheetah's eyes can do isn't actually that special, considering our ancient marine ancestors could do the same underwater."

"Still sounds pretty remarkable to me," she smiled.

"Beethoven lost his hearing when he was thirty-one. It didn't stop him from composing his symphonies. He just had to turn around to realize that the audience was applauding him. He did it by vibration, just like a snake feels vibration through its stomach while it slithers along," Albus smiled back. "I'm hardly the first person to revert back to animal nature to keep up with everyone else."

"I suppose not," she said and rolled onto her back, looking up at the ceiling. "How high is the roof in here."

"Thirteen feet, eight inches," Albus answered.

"How far away is the desk?"

"I'm not a performing monkey!"

She laughed but didn't look at him. Instead voice became a teasing one.

"I didn't miss the fact that you called me Alex back there."

"You don't like the abbreviation?" Albus asked.

"I'm still your teacher, Albus," she reminded playfully.

"There are no teachers or students here anymore," he said rolling onto his back. "We're all just…prisoners. Welcome to Hogwarts institute for the criminally insane."

"Insane?"

"Well, in case you haven't been paying attention, I'm a little bit crazy," Albus smiled. "He's even more crazy because he's my best friend," he pointed as Scorpius.

"True. No sane man would be his best friend. They wouldn't survive it," Scorpius agreed.

He was lying in bed with his eyes closed but still awake and listening to every word.

"Criminally insane?"

"Well, I did let off a few bombs in the Gryffindor common room a while back," he shrugged.

"I fuckin' knew it!" Aiden bolted up and shouted angrily.

"Go to sleep, Aiden," Bonde ordered, taking no notice of his outburst.

"How did you get in?!" Rose demanded. Like Aiden, she had shot up from her bed looking furious.

"I got into the safe, you think I can't get into your common room?" Albus chuckled.

"How did you it?" she screeched. Dom and Melissa giggled.

"Scaled the tower," he said conversationally.

"What?!"

"You climbed Gryffindor tower?" Bonde asked looking amazed.

"Not all of it. If you go out the window in Professor Vector's office, along the side and up the roof, it's only thirty-nine feet to the dorm window, which was left open by the way," Albus said happily. "You're the one that levitated my bag up there, Aiden. Then you made the suggestion that I climb up and get it. I decided to take your advice."

"You levitated his bag up there?!" Rose turned looking outraged at her boyfriend.

"He was being a dick!"

"Oh, _I_ was being a dick?"

"Alright, enough, everyone! Put your heads down and get some rest," Bonde ordered but then turned to Albus with a faint grin on her face. "You really are insane," she whispered.

"Guilty," he smirked.

"If you're that crazy…how crazy is Nemesis?"

"I don't know…but I intend to find out," he said.

And with that, he employed his well-practiced technique of clearing his mind and shutting his own brain down. Genius's like Einstein and Leonardo Di Vinci had employed methods like micro-naps in which they would sleep about twenty minutes every three hours so that they didn't waste the day. Albus used a method developed by the Shaolin, a way of shutting down even the subconscious part of the brain.

On the up side, you only needed about four or five hours of sleep. On the down side, you don't dream.

Of course, Albus didn't consider that a down side.

He hadn't dreamt for over a year and a half and given the situation he was currently in, he didn't want to start now.

 **DAY 2**

Alex clearly hadn't master the same techniques that Albus had. She was a restless sleeper. Her covers had somehow ended up by her feet and her right arm was droop over Albus's windpipe when he awoke. The idea that she had tried to hug him in her sleep was a nice one but lacked evidence since her muscled arm was actually making it difficult for him to breath.

He gently removed her arm and tucked it back at her side. Her mouth was open slightly and she was breathing heavily, dead to the world.

Without a wand, Albus couldn't fill the pot with water or produce a flame to heat it. He was just about to take it to the nearest bathroom to fill when water suddenly appears inside it.

While groping for her duvet, Alex had cast a spell with her wand point over her shoulder. He dropped her wand a wrapped herself back up in the covers. "Three sugars, lots of milk," she groaned still half-asleep.

"It's powdered milk," Albus warned.

"I don't care, just make coffee," she said sounding like she was struggling to stay awake.

"Three sugars huh?"

"Shut up, Albus," she hissed.

He chuckled, trying not to wake anyone else up.

An hour later everyone, most not in a good mood, had gotten up and were drinking tea of coffee. Alex's incredible beauty had taken a hit over night. Her black and red streaked hair looked like someone had put her head in a washing machine and turned it onto spin.

Rose, Anya, Dom and Melissa's weren't much better and Albus was glad that he'd had his wasn't as long as his dads.

Once they were all awake again, Albus and Scorpius set off again, venturing into the empty corridors with a wish-list of what the ladies wanted. Much like the charm that stopped boys from entering the girl's dorm, the Ravenclaw knocker that would usually present them with a riddle was complete lifeless and the door was already ajar.

The Ravenclaw dorms hadn't fared much better than the Gryffindors and if anything, there were even more clothes peppered around the room. Never the less, Albus managed to identify several of Dom and Melissa's possessions and also grabbing a few of Abby Bordigan's things for Anya. They were once again using the trunk they'd hauled the food in to now grab other essentials. They then took the stairs down and headed for the Hospital wing.

A lot of the potions and remedies had been smashed when the localized earthquake had hit the school but they managed to find a few items that might come in handy. Scorpius located a few intake bottles marked; Essence of Dittany and flask of Skele-grow.

"Oh, please let me show this to your mum!" he begged holding up Madam Pomphey's ledger. "Listen to this; _February third, twenty-twenty two. James Sirius Potter admitted for boils and pustules localized around genitalia. Clear disregard for the school rules that prevent sexual intercourse between students. Will clear up in two or three days, no treatment necessary_ …I'm keeping this!"

"We should get it framed," Albus smiled.

Scorpius looked like a child at Christmas. James had made his life hell and payback was sweet.

" _Teddy Remus Lupin, urinating all the colours of the rainbow, cause unknown, suspected jinx by T. Ciril._ This is gold!"

Scorpius continued to flip through the pages of the ledger with great enthusiasm as they made their way back to the headmaster's office. But when they approached the prefect's bathroom on the fifth floor they both stopped.

Steam was coming from the gap below the door and the sounds of rushing water could be heard from within. The taps were open inside.

"Who's in there?" Scorpius asked. He tried the door handle but it was locked.

"Not one of us. The staff bathroom on the sixth floor is closer," Albus said.

Then a thought occurred. He reached for the handle and turned it. The door opened a crack and steam came pouring out. It didn't open for Scorpius but it opened for him.

"Scorp…take the stuff back. I'll catch up," he said staring at the door.

"Albus…"

"She wants a word," he said. And that was all he needed to say.

Nemesis was in there and Albus was the only one she was letting in.

Nervously, Scorpius continued levitating the trunk down the corridor. He didn't look comfortable about leaving his friend to deal with her alone but knew he didn't have a choice. She probably would have forced him to leave by some other means if he didn't go on his own.

Taking a breath, Albus stepped inside the bathroom.

It was like a sauna in there. All the hot taps where blasting out full stream. The water was draining away but the steam they were leaving behind was lingering in the air creating a dense cloud of mist throughout the room. His eyes had only partial visibility but it was enough.

He could see her.

She was naked, leaning against one of the sinks, her body made possible by the steam coming together to form a shape. She was made of mist, but much more visible than through a curtain. Her features were much more detailed. He could see that her long hair had a slight curliness to it and fell over her shoulders and down her back. Her face was more defined too.

She was beautiful. Too beautiful. It seemed unreal. Alex's beauty came with a certain grit. As amazing as she was, there were clear signs that she'd worked brutally hard to become that way. He body was made of muscle and she had a strong jawline. There was a grizzled nature that lay underneath her looks but this was something else entirely.

Nemesis was, for lack of a better word, perfect.

She was the personification of just about every man's sexual fantasy. There wasn't a single flaw to her. Her large breasts, her tight stomach, her impossibly long legs and even within the mist, he could make out her nipples. He suspected she was doing that on purpose.

She was presenting herself this way to provoke him. To make him aroused.

And it was working. But Albus had way more self-control than any other teenager he'd ever met. His mind was way too powerful to fall for such an obvious trick.

"Sleep well?" she asked. Her voice was once again coming out of the walls all around him.

"I think you know exactly how I sleep," Albus responded.

"I have better things to do than watch you sleep, Albus, I was merely being courteous," she snapped.

"Well, in that case, I slept fine. Thank you for asking."

"See, that's nicer, isn't it?"

"Courtesy?"

"Manner's cost nothing," she stated.

"You know where the word comes from, don't you? Courtesy?"

"The etiquette of court. How a person is supposed to act when they are in the presence of royalty," she answered.

"Are you royalty?" he dared to ask.

"I used to be. Once, I was a queen."

"Past tense?"

"I never wanted to be a queen, I was happy to leave it behind. So, don't feel the need to call me your highness," she said, a grin appearing on her misted mouth.

"Highness is when you're addressing a prince or princess, you refer to a queen as majesty," Albus said.

"Very good. You'd be surprised how many people don't know that these days," he laughed.

"The monarchy exists for traditions sake only, it doesn't actually govern anything anymore."

"And yet, what would Britain be without it?" she smiled. "This place has changed a lot."

"You seem surprised."

"I wasn't expecting it to change this much. Foolishness on my part. Nothing stops the great roar of muggle progress."

"I agree."

"They're going to find out you know," she said causally. "About all of this. About the wizarding world. It's inventible."

"Some of them already know. The prime mister knows. I'm sure he's told others."

"And that doesn't scare you?"

"Why should I be afraid?"

"Because muggles are very good at war," she actually seemed pleased about that fact. "They have mastered the art of mass destruction and they won't be pleased when they find out that the wizarding world has been lying to them and playing around with their memories in order to keep themselves hidden."

"Are you planning to expose the wizarding world?" he said mastering his fear. He couldn't afford to be afraid of her. He needed to speak to her as an equal, even if they were anything but.

She seemed to like this change in his tone because she smiled warmly. "Eventually. Many other things have to happen first."

"Things you intend to put in place?"

"Do I strike you as someone without a plan?"

"No."

"You want to ask, so just ask, I told you I wouldn't lie to you," she said gladly.

"What are you?"

"I told you. I'm different."

"You're draining the school."

"I'm draining _my_ school," she corrected with a smirk.

"Why?"

"If you want specific answers, Albus, you need to ask specific questions. Why, is a bit of broad one."

"Why is there no record of something like you?" he chose his question carefully.

"Ahh, why indeed? I'm not exactly a shy girl, am I?" she teased. "How could the wizarding world not know about me? Think about it."

"They did know…your existence was covered up," he deduced.

She nodded eagerly, excited by how quickly he came to the conclusion.

"Why would they do that? And why would you stay hidden for so…ahh, stupid! Of course!"

"You are a sharp tac, aren't you? Go on, say it."

"You were imprisoned," she sighed.

"Yep. I was locked away for a long time, but that cage was never going to hold me forever and now I'm back. Big as life and twice as hungry," she declared.

"Hungry?"

"Busting out of that cell took its toll on me. When I got out, I was weak. But as chance would have it, Hogwarts wasn't far and so here I am. This place is getting me back to my old self."

"Why were you imprisoned?"

"I've answered that already. Because I'm different," she said, a flicker of anger in her voice.

"Being different isn't a crime."

"Oh, yes, it is! To those who that cannot fathom change, being different is the ultimate crime!"

"No, you did something," Albus said, forgetting himself. "You weren't born like this, you became it! You were a witch once, weren't you?"

Nemesis studied him intently for a moment before answering.

"Yes, once, I was a witch."

"And now you're _this_ , whatever _this_ is. How did it happen? It clearly scared others enough that they felt compelled to lock you away so how did you do it?"

"We've talked about me enough. I want to talk about you."

"No, answer my question!"

"I will, if you answer mine."

"Fine, what's your question?" he said impatiently.

"I've been going through the school records and I found an anomaly. There seems to be a gap, right at the beginning of your forth year. A big empty hole. You and Scorpius. It's almost as if, you two weren't actually here. What happened at the beginning of your forth year?"

Albus was frozen. He couldn't answer.

"The wizarding world is built on a foundation of lies. They lied about me. They destroyed or altered all evidence of my existence because they were afraid of me. They were afraid of what I might do. But, they seem to have done the same to you, Albus. Why would they erase any record of that time? What exactly happened? And why do the following records mark you and Scorpius having a very sudden change in behaviour and attitude?"

"No…no, you can't ask me about that," he stated. He was shaking all over and it seemed to excite her. She moved closer.

Even those she had no physical form and could actually touch him, he could feel her presence. It was like standing next to a nuclear weapon.

"It's something really bad, isn't it? That's why you built that vault in your mind," she whispered. "You don't want that secret ever getting out, do you?"

"Who are you? Who are you really?"

"Ah ah ahhh, you show me yours and I'll show you mine," she purred into his ear.

"We're done here," he said angrily and stormed towards the door.

"Lesson number one, Albus; the wizarding world is one big fat juicy lie. When you're ready for the truth, come find me. I'm ready for yours."

He slammed the door on his way out with his heart beating like a race horse.


	17. The Siege

Over two decades ago, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Dumbledore's Army, the Order of the Phoenix and many of the teachers and students of Hogwarts had made their legendary stand by garrisoning the castle and defending it against a greatly superior force.

Despite many casualties, extensive damage and too many wounded to count, they had been victorious.

Now, Hogwarts was under siege again, this time from the very people that fought to save it.

Harry trudged through the mud purposefully, followed by other Auror's from his department and heading towards the hundreds of people gathered on the grounds. Frightened students, shocked teachers, and ministry officials were everywhere. It was chaos.

And, on top of that, it was raining.

When he got to Hagrid's hut, he was forced to pause. With a great sinking in his stomach, he looked up at the colossal glittering shield that now covered the entire castle and felt the strength in his legs leaving him.

Albus had been right. He had been right about everything.

Had he been right about Him too? Had Harry become so confidant in his abilities, so arrogant that he could overcome any threat that he ignored evidence of something sinister? Or just brushed it off as another pesky criminal he'd have to take down? His track record for winning was certainly against him. Every Auror in history had been forced to leave cases unsolved and criminals still at large but Harry's list of closed cases far outweighed the open ones.

And it was true, he had noticed that the rush of adrenaline and fear that any moment could be his last that took hold in his early days at the Auror department had slowly but surely lessened over the years. In fact, his conduct recently had been less about whether or not he could catch the person responsible for the crime but rather how much paperwork it would require afterward.

Yet another thing Albus had been right about.

Harry had lost his edge.

In the old days, when it was just him, Ron and Hermione, he would have pursued what was happening, no matter how many rules he had to break but now, staring at the barrier between him and the school he owed so much to, he could help but feel as if it was partly his fault.

"Harry!" he was broken out of his despair by Teddy who rushed over to him.

Harry steeled himself. Whatever was happen, now was not the time to show weakness. Dumbledore never would have, so neither would he.

"Do we have a head count yet?" Harry asked.

"We're still going through them, it's a mess. They're on all sides of the school, houses are all mixed up," he said panting. "We need more people up here."

"I'm getting as many as I can. Hermione is addressing the ministry then she'll be coming up. We need to get this place organized before a flood of desperate parents show up demanding to know where their children are."

"We're doing the best we can," Teddy said before disapparating.

The noise of so many displaced people outside the school over shadowed the _crack!_ as he left. All around the grounds, ministry officials were setting up charms and enchantments. Some were to simply protect people from the rain and keep them warm while others were using them to pitch tents and treat any students that were injured during the panic of fleeing the school.

As he surveyed the people, a few stood out but only because of their height. Hagrid was at least a hundred yards away but he stood out like a sore thumb. The teachers were easily visible as were quite a few of the seventh years. Among them he saw headmaster Torrens and immediately marched over to him.

"Torrens! What the hell happened?!" he demanded.

Torrens was busy ushering students into different groups according to their houses and didn't seem at all fazed by Harry's tone.

"What does it look like?!" he growled back.

"Tell me exactly how this happened!"

"I'll be happy to once I know all the students are safe! No, Jeffreys, stay with the other Hufflepuffs!" he yelled at a fifth year that was trying to push his way through the crowd.

"But, my cousin –"

"We'll find your cousin, you stay there!"

The chaos outside the shield wasn't abating and Harry knew he'd have to wait for his answers. He decided to join the effort to manage the students as it was the best way of locating his children.

He had to find Lily and Albus.

But, after searching and ordering the students around for a few minutes, he still no signs of them. Instead, he found a very familiar sight. A man with bright red hair that towered over the youngsters.

"Ron!" he shouted, getting his attention.

Ron cut through the crowd and when he reached him, Harry could see that he was pale white and shaking.

"Harry, I can't find them! I can't find Hugo and Lily!" he was panicking.

"Ron, calm down, I'm sure they're okay," his well-practiced voice said. Ron was a brave man but he'd never had the same composure as Harry. "Where's Hermione?"

"Still at the Ministry. I sent a Patronus to the rest of the family, they should be here soon."

"Good, we need everyone we can get," Harry said and he was accidently shoved by a group of second years. If it they had been on platform nine and three quarters, they probably would have looked horrified that they'd just bumped into the legendary hero but after everything that had happened, they didn't even bother to look at whom they'd just brushed passed.

"Dad!"

Hugo Weasley came belting out of nowhere with Lily in tow. He rushed up and hugged his father harder than ever before. Lily's eyes were red from where she'd been crying. She let out a muffled scream of relief and copied Hugo, wrapping her arms around her father for dear life.

"You're okay, you're okay," Harry breathed heavily, saying it as much to himself as to her.

Hugo had to struggle to break away from Ron who didn't seem to want to let him go. "Dad, dad! I think Scorpius is still inside," he said with a shaking voice.

"What?!"

"He ran back in," Lily sobbed. "And Professor Bonde went after him."

"Why did he go back in?"

"H-he…" Lily broke down into tears.

"He went back in for Albus," Hugo finished for her looking scared.

The plummeting sensation that went through Harry was worse than the Cruciatus Curse. He felt as if his insides were being twisted and torn.

Albus was still inside.

"Dad," now even Hugo was on the verge of tears, "we can't find Rose either. I didn't see her get out!"

"Nobody had seen Dom or Melissa either," Lily cried.

This couldn't be happening. It wasn't just his son, his family. The family he loved more than anything else in the world and they were trapped where he couldn't help them.

All-encompassing despair made a worthy attempt to break him right then and there but failed. He couldn't fall to pieces. He couldn't let fear overwhelm him. He had to stay strong and stay focused if he was going to find a way to get them out.

"Potter! Weasley! What did this?!" A familiar voice snapped at them.

They all turned to see a livid Draco Malfoy standing there. His hair was a mess and he looked as if he'd tried to get dressed whilst disapparting.

"We don't know," Harry said, still clutching his daughter.

"Your son does, where is he?"

"What?! What do you mean 'my son knows'?!"

"He predicted this, didn't he? He's been yelling for everyone to leave the school for days. I know Scorpius will be with him so, where is he?" he said as if he were demanding to speak to the manager of a restaurant so that he could lodge a complaint.

It was one of those rare moments where Harry actually felt true pity for Draco. He had made some truly stupid choices in his life but mostly because he was convinced by everyone around him that they were the only choices available to him. But, since Scorpius had come into the world he was a changed man. Harry would even dare to call him a 'good man'.

And now, here he was, about to deliver the news that his son was trapped inside Hogwarts.

He opened his mouth to speak but Draco seemed to suddenly realize what words were about to come out. The blood drained from his face and his eyes went wide with terror. Anger soon joined his expression and after seething internally for a few seconds he fixed Harry with a death glare.

"This is your fault!" he hissed.

"Draco –"

"No! If you had listened to him in the first place, no one would be trapped in there!"

"Shut it, Malfoy!" Ron barked. "Harry isn't to blame for this!"

"You could have evacuated the school days ago!" Draco yelled.

"We had no evidence that –"

"No evidence?! That damn paintings were disappearing! All the animals ran off, you think they did that because they felt comfortable and safe being here?!" Draco roared.

Now several of the students had taken notice of the argument.

"We didn't know what was happening! That's why we were investigating!" Harry yelled.

"If you could see past that stupid scar on your forehead you would have realized that your son is smarter than everyone in that school combined and if he says there is a threat, you should damn well listen to him!"

"What?"

Draco let out a mirthless laugh. "You don't have a clue, do you? It really says a lot about your parenting skills that I know more about your son than you do!"

Draco might as well have punched Harry because that's how it looked. He was so stunned by that comment that it took him a few seconds to recover.

"You don't know my son!" Harry hissed through gritted teeth.

"He's an Occulmens. Didn't know that, did you?" Draco seemed to relish the continued looks of shock that came from Harry and Ron. "He came to me before his fifth year and asked me to teach him but after a while, he was practically teaching me! He picked it up faster than anyone I've ever seen and he was doing it at the same time as building a mind palace! Do you have any idea how focused, how committed you have to be to do something like that?"

Harry's immediate defence was to simply not believe him but doubt was nagging at him. Ron looked dumbfounded, clearly not informed as to what a mind palace was.

"Now he has that mind vault of his, he can't forget anything! Even the stuff he wants to! He's been living under you roof and never even realized…Albus is a damn genius! He saw this coming and he tried to warn you, but no! You're the chosen one! The great Harry Potter and you know what's best! And now my son is in danger because of your stupidity!"

"Fuck you, Malfoy!" Harry pushed Lily aside and drew his wand. "My family is in there too!"

Ron stepped up beside him, wand out, ready once again to fight beside his best friend. But Draco hadn't reached for his wand yet.

"And who's fault is that?!"

"Enough!"

A shield charm erupted between them forcing the three men apart. They all looked around to see Hermione standing there with her wand pointed at them. Next to her Ginny, the Weasley's and over two dozen ministry workers were gathered around her, not to mention a very nervous looking house elf at her side.

"Fighting amongst yourselves at a time like this?! I should have you all arrested!" she screamed. It was clear that she'd overheard them and knew that her daughter was one of the students that was trapped but as always, Hermione instead of losing her head, she was laser focused on figuring the problem out.

"Mione' Rose is –"

"I know!" she turned to her son with sympathy in her eyes. Almost as if she were apologising to him. She was the minister for magic and she hadn't been able to stop any of this from happening. Guilt was eating away at her. He rushed up and hugged her. "We are going to get them out," he stated.

He dropped the shield between them and pressed the tip of her wand to her throat.

"Attention!" her voice was amplified about two hundred times and echoed out across the grounds. "All students, regardless of year will form into house groups. Ravenclaws over there, Gryffindor's next to Hagrid's hut, Slytherin's by the Hogsmead path and Hufflepuffs next to the lake. Once we have taken your names, you will be escorted to the Hogwarts express. Please move in and orderly fashion. Go!"

There was a moment of hesitation before the students began to bustle around, heading to they're designated areas.

"Ministress…" the house elf tugged on Hermione's sleeve looking ready to faint. "Gerty can't be here…"she squeaked.

"Gerty, please, I need you to focus. Can you sense anything?" Hermione said crouching down and putting her hand on Gerty's shoulder.

"Something bad…very bad is in the school. So much power…" she said, her voice shaking. "Please, Ministress, Gerty can't be here."

"It's alright, Gerty. Go back to the ministry. I'll send a Patronus with updates."

The house elf didn't need telling twice. She vanished on the spot with a small pop.

Hermione Granger Weasley, the first minister in history to appoint a house elf as her assistant. An assistant that got the same pay and time off that any other ministry worker had. Gerty was sweet and very enthusiastic about working for Hermione but like many other house elves, she was still getting used to her freedom which is why she called Hermione a strange mix of 'Minister' and 'Mistress'.

The presence inside the school had clearly scared her to the point where even her loyalty to Hermione couldn't keep her on the ground. No wonder all the other elves had vanished.

"If you three are quite finished shelling out blame, perhaps we can try and figure out who got out…and who didn't," she said stiffly.

Harry and Ron cowered slightly under Ginny's disapproving gaze. Hermione might have been the minister but nobody in their fright mind wanted to be on Ginny's bad side.

Three hours later they had begun getting the students away from the school while more and more people from the ministry showed up. Parents from all over the UK had arrived to spirit their children away while many others waited for them to get back to London. None of the teachers were leaving. Their duty to the school didn't end just because they'd been ousted from it.

Pretty soon, more wizards and witches were gathered on the grounds of Hogwarts than anywhere else in the country. More and more tents were being set up and the whole place was starting to resemble an actual siege.

There was also now a list. A list of people that were unaccounted for.

 _Anya Zabini_

 _Aiden Fitch-Fletchy_

 _Rose Weasley_

 _Dominique Weasley_

 _Melissa Barker_

 _Scorpius Malfoy_

 _Albus Potter_

 _Alexandria Bonde_

They were all worried that that list might get bigger. They were still finding stragglers that had rushed out of the castles different exits and taken off into the woods or gone to the other side of the lake.

Several Slytherin's and Hufflepuffs were also missing and ministry personnel were scouring the grounds for any sign of them but the majority of people there were now walking around the shield, waving their wands over it, trying to get an idea of how it functioned.

"Anything?" Harry asked an Unspeakable that was working on the shield.

"Nothing. It's almost as if it's not actually there. It's invisible to our tests," he responded, looking troubled.

"If we can't figure out how it works, we can't figure out how to bring it down," Harry said gravely.

"It's letting the rain through," the Unspeakable said. "Natural occurrences can pass through it but anything living tries to go through, it gets fried."

"That doesn't help."

"We're going to try sending a port key through. Just on its own, to see if it makes it."

"Alright, keep me updated," Harry said before leading back to a large tent in the centre of the grounds.

Inside Hermione was directing orders at her people while others looked over books and scrolls for any information. A wireless had been set up on the desk and what looked like a temporary fireplace, made solely of metal was standing in the corner so that she could contact the ministry whenever she needed to.

Ron, Ginny and the other Weasley's were in a group looking glum at how useless they were. Fleur hadn't stopped crying since she had learned that Dom was inside and Bill was holding her, stroking her hair. Likewise, Teddy had taken a few minutes away from his duties to comfort Victorie who was in just as much of a state as her mother.

Many of the Hogwarts teachers were gathered inside the tent as well, trying to lend a hand where ever possible. They were discussing theories with other members of staff or giving updates about the current state of the student evacuation.

It would be getting dark soon and everyone had started to realize that they were going to be there for a while. Food and drinks were being sent in from Hogsmead and Harry heard Hermione say that she was planning to extend a welcome to other wizarding nations that wanted to help.

They had developed a sort of silent agreement that none of them would openly express just how worried they were. They weren't going to allow the fear to get inside. They had to be professional and approach the situation as if their children weren't at the heart of it.

"Harry?" Hermione said looking up.

"The Unspeakables are getting ready to try and send a portkey through," he informed.

Hagrid had provided one of his old but huge tea cups for them to use. Everyone gathered around as the Unspeakable pointed his wand at the cup and muttered; "Portus."

A soft blue glow surrounded the cup for a moment then died out.

"Alright. It will leave in ten seconds and should arrive just outside the main entrance," he said.

They silently counted down the seconds that seemed to last a lot longer than usual. The cup began to glow again and then with a tiny crack, disappeared. Everyone suddenly took cover as what sounded like a canon going off erupted around the grounds.

The shield let off a burst of light and they all just had time to see the cup burst into sparks and disintegrate as it slammed into the side of the barrier. A moment later, nothing but a few wisps of smoke remained.

Disappointment washed through the crowd.

Many of them stayed up through the night to continue monitoring the shield but everyone else retired to the tents to get some sleep. Harry didn't really sleep though. There were simply too many things on his mind.

The main one being what Draco Malfoy had said. Did he really know his son better than him?

Did Harry really know his son at all?

Perhaps spurred by the anger that Draco had filled him with, the next day Harry decided to take a more aggressive stance.

"Get everyone together. Meet in front of Hagrid's hut," he ordered and from his tone everyone seemed to realize he wasn't in the mood for discussion.

Soon, over three hundred wizards and witches were gathered there.

"We've tied slipping through with a portkey, that didn't work so now we're going to try breaking through," Harry growled as he addressed them all. "Every single person here will fire a Reductor Curse at the same concentrated spot. Keep up the fire for as long as possible, maybe we can weaken it!"

The wizards and witches organized themselves into regimented lines, each pointing their wands at the same spot. Harry stood in the centre.

"Fire on my command…fire!"

Hundreds of bolts of red light blasted through the air and collided with the shield. It was quite the lightshow. The mother-of-pearl coloured shield seemed to shimmer at the spells struck the surface. Sparks flew from the points of impact scorching the ground. The wizards and witches grew red faced as they poured all their effort into striking the shield but it was obvious.

It was having no effect.

The only thing it was doing was alerting the people inside that they were trying to break through.

High, up on the small balcony of the headmaster's office, the captive's ha gathered to watch the display. None of them looked too hopeful though. Especially Albus.

He had been in a foul mood ever since he'd returned from his bathroom meeting with Nemesis but he refused to say why. He looked out at the red flecks of light that were muffled behind the shield and shook his head.

"They're wasting their time," he said.

"Well, you don't know…maybe –" Rose tried but Albus cut her off.

"She didn't throw up that shield on a whim, Rose. She's been planning this for weeks, months even. She designed that shield perfectly. Nothing is getting through it."

They all went silent as the reality of his words sunk in.

"Must'av been two hundred of them out there," Aiden grumbled as the red lights faded away.

"Three. And it wouldn't matter if there were three thousand," Albus said. "She's found a way to absorb magic, to vampire it out of the school. You think she's not doing the same with their magic? Every spell they shoot at that shield only makes it stronger."

"Still, nice to know we haven't been abandoned," Melissa shrugged.

"Nobody abandoned the Apollo thirteen astronauts, but that didn't mean NASA could actually get to them. And they could talk to each other."

"You think there is a way we could contact them?" Bonde asked.

"She doesn't want us talking to them. She doesn't want them talking to us. That's why the shield is one way," he sighed. "She hates them."

"They locked her up. Of course, she hates them," Scorpius said.

"It's not that. She didn't want to be locked up but for someone like her…imprisonment was nothing more than an inconvenience, a delay. It hasn't stopped her," he said rubbing his face. "They did something…something should couldn't forgive. She retaliated and they locked her up for it. But, what they did and what she did in response, I don't know."

 _WHAM!_

Rose screamed. Bonde jumped into action shooting forward with her wand out and standing in front of everyone else.

Something had just banged on the door of the headmaster's office.

Three more bangs on the door followed but they weren't nearly as forceful as before. Albus slowly moved towards the door before Bonde grabbed him by the arm and forced him back.

"It could be Ben," Scorpius whispered.

"No!" she hissed.

"You think she can't break in here whenever she wants? She's knocking out of courtesy."

Albus moved past the Professor and opened the door. There was nothing there.

The corridor was empty. Albus looked down at the ground to see a small bottle with a note attached to it. It was addressed to him. He reached down and picked it up, reading the label on the bottle.

"What is it?" Dom whispered.

"Demeter's Draught. It's what St. Mungo's gives to pregnant women to avoid birth defects," Albus said before opening the note. The penmanship was exquisite.

 _Dear Albus._

 _A peace offering._

 _I wanted to apologies for my ambush when we spoke earlier. Clearly the events of your fourth year were of significant personal and psychological impact and for me to try and force them out of you, like prying a rusty nail, was wrong of me._

 _You wouldn't be the man you are today if it weren't for those events and since I respect the man you are, I should also respect how closely you guard them. I confess I've become quite fascinated by you and I don't want there to be any hostilities between us._

 _Personally, I've never believed in fate. There are no prophecies about me and the ones I have witness have either been greatly flawed or easily manipulated. Prophecies are so often nothing more than a tautology of inevitable circumstances. So, I won't say that our meeting was destined but rather something more akin to magnesium._

 _You were, after all, the first one to notice my presence here. And for all the sublime knowledge you've collected in that marvellous mind of yours, I believe you're still struggling to answer the question of who I really am and, more importantly, who you really are._

 _Do you know why you were sorted into Slytherin? Do you know why you now attempt to defend people that would never defend you? Do you know why you are so different from your father and yet, here you stand, ready to take up the same sword that he has in the past?_

 _I, on the other hand, know exactly who I am, or rather, who I am now, and yet I am the only one that knows. I've had no opportunity to share this information and, until now, no desire to. It's a lonely existence, as I'm sure you can understand. So, rather than harbour ill feelings towards one another, I propose that we wipe the slate clean. Start fresh._

 _I hold to my promise that I will not lie to you and I will not attempt to force your secrets out. But, I'm also confidant that you will tell me them in due time._

 _If you find this agreeable and are indeed as brilliant as I suspect, you'll know where to find me. I would like your opinion on something._

 _Yours faithfully,_

 _?_

 _P.S. I know this may come as contrary to my previous statement and I don't expect you to change your point of view just because I ask you to, but, I am fully aware that you intend to work against me. You've resolved yourself to getting everyone out of this castle in one piece and if that means you have to fight me to do it, then you will._

 _I have no intention of killing you, Albus and you have no intention of surrendering. It is your mission to try and orchestrate my downfall and while this may cause some friction between us, never the less, I know we'll have a lot of fun._

 _See you soon. X_


	18. She Who Cannot Be Named

"Albus," Scorpius swallowed, trying to find the most careful way possible so say what he was about to say. "You do realize that this…this comes off sounding a bit like, well…a love letter."

Once again, all eyes were on him. None of them seemed to know how to react when he had passed the letter around, letting them read it.

"I'll admit, it's a bit flowery, but in essence, it's diplomatic. It's not a love letter," Albus said.

" _'_ _I've become fascinated with you'_ , _'more akin to magnetism'_ , certainly sounds like flirting to me," Bonde said. She seemed to have become quite cross after reading the letter.

"What does she mean about 'knowing where to find her'?" Dom asked.

"Smell it," Albus said simply.

Dom gave the letter a quick sniff and found a very strange aroma coming from the parchment. She handed it to Rose who wrinkled her nose when she smelt it.

"That's horrible, what is it?"

"Juniper, Merlot and tobacco. Slughorn's office," he said.

"You're not actually gonna go?!" Anya screeched with indignity.

"I know that letter sounds cordial but it's not. She's the headmistress of this school now and if she calls you to the office you damn well go or you get punished. Besides, for all concerned, don't you think it's better if I try to keep her in a good mood?"

"You're insane!" she yelled.

"Well, sanity isn't doing much for us at the moment, is it?" he snapped back. "If anybody has any great ideas, now's the time!"

As he expected, they were all silent.

"She says she won't kill me," he reminded.

"She could be lying," Bonde said, still looking angry.

"She said she wouldn't lie to me."

"She could have been lying about that!"

"She wasn't. It would be rude," he said.

"Rude?! She's holding us prisoner, she's taken over the school!"

"She has zero empathy for the wizarding world, of course she's not going to be civil to them," he stated. "I meant rude to me."

"Oh, she doesn't want to be rude to you, of course not! Invading a school and taking hostages is just fine but being rude to Albus Potter; that's below the belt!" Bonde was fuming and Albus wasn't entirely sure why.

"It's important to her and if you could calm down for a second, you'd see that it's important to us too!" he said back, not backing down.

"How could it possibly be impor –"

"Because it tells us that she's old!"

Bonde blinked. "What?"

"Nemesis is old. Very old. She was talking about courtesy and addressing people the right way. Proper etiquette, which hasn't mattered in the wizarding world or the muggle one since the class systems were still in place. You had to talk to your superiors the right way or you risk getting your tongue cut out," he said quickly and knew that this new information had completely over shadowed the letter. "She has taken control of the school and yet, she doesn't seem to have a physical presence. She's incorporeal which means she's some kind of spirit and from the sounds of it, this particular spirit has been locked away for a few life sentences. She even said she's surprised how much the country has changed."

"Exactly how old are we talking?" Dominique asked, looking half shocked, half intrigued.

"Could be anything," Albus shrugged. "The class system in Britian has existed in one form or another since the Roman empire all the way up to the early twentieth century. She could be from the bloody dark ages!"

"Unless she's lying and this is all just some clever misdirection," Bonde said. Her voice wasn't raised anymore but it still had an icy tone.

"What would be the point? It's not like I can actually do anything to stop her so why would she bother?"

"You don't think…you remember, after Voldemort tried to kill your dad, his body was destroyed and he was left as a sort of spirit…" Rose asked sleepily.

"I already considered it, and no, I don't think she's used a Horcrux to survive."

"But, it would make sense that –"

"Except that Voldemort was left almost completely powerless after his failed attack on my dad and he didn't have the ability to syphon magic. Riddle wasn't able to take this school even with legions of death eaters, giants and dementors. Nemesis managed it on her own and without anyone knowing…well, except me, as stated in the letter, which is why she wants to talk. I think she wants to know if I've figured anything else out about her."

"Which you have, but I'm not sure you should admit it," Scorpius warned.

"Look, if she's going to be honest with me, I've got to return the courtesy. _'What's good for goose'_ , and all that…" he sighed. "Doesn't mean I'm going to tell her everything."

"I don't think you should tell her anything," he said.

"It's not that simple. She already knows a lot about all of us," Albus admitted.

He was trying to send Scorpius a warning, hidden in his words but it wasn't easy without giving anything away to the others. He wasn't entirely sure if he'd even gotten the message.

"Look, the simple fact is that if she is willing to be amenable, then maybe I can negotiate with her."

"Negotiate? To get us out?" Aiden said perking up.

"If she'll let you guys go on the condition that I stay; I'd call that a good outcome," Albus nodded.

"What?!" Dom jumped up.

"Albus!" Rose hissed.

"Good deal!" Aiden shouted then shrank under Rose's death glare.

"We are all leaving this school together, that is not open to discussion!" Bonde yelled. Her rage was back and this time she'd marched right up to him until her face was only a few inches for him. Once again, those eyes of hers threatened to enslave him right then and there but he held his ground.

"In case you've forgotten there is a pregnant girl here and if there is an opportunity that I can get her, you, some of you or all of you out of this school, it's an opportunity I'm going to take. _That_ is not open for discussion!" he growled back before storming away towards the door.

He was through and out into the corridor before anyone could stop him or raise an objection. Something in that letter had really set Bonde off and he wanted to know what, but there was no way to talk to her when she was in such a mood. He'd leave her to cool off and if he played it right, he may even bring back good news.

He didn't have to tell Nemesis everything and maybe that was the best strategy. He could tease her with little details to get her interested. It might even be enough to get her to drop her guard. Get her to tease him with a few of her secrets.

It wasn't exactly a solid plan but it was the best he had at that moment so with no further deliberating, he marched off to Slughorn's office.

The door was unlocked and he stepped inside, trying to look like he was answering a formal summons, but the office was empty. There were no clouds of steam or flapping curtains for her to use, it was just empty. A second later, he realized that he wasn't in the wrong place. The rest of the school had been turned topsy-turvy during the earthquake but this office showed no signs of it anywhere.

She had actually cleaned up the mess and made the place look presentable. It was exactly as he remembered it. Larger than most teacher's offices with books lining and photographs of famous wizards lining the walls. The photographs weren't blank like the portraits but they were frozen, just like a normal muggle picture. A big armchair sat in front of several sofa's and desk was propped against the wall with a now clean ashtray on it. Of course, it wouldn't be Slughorn's office without the alarmingly huge decanter in the corner. That was when something caught Albus's eye.

Tiny blue and white lights were dancing on the ceiling. When he searched for the source he found that they were being reflected out of a silver basin that hovered in mid-air. A pensieve.

"Thank you for coming," Nemesis' voice flowed from the walls.

"My pleasure," Albus said, keeping his voice calm and controlled. "You've been looking through Slughorn's memories?"

"I glanced at them. To be honest, they're a bit repetitive," she said. "But they'll serve well enough. Hop in."

"You want me to use the pensieve?"

"Unless you'd rather I made it start rain in here so you could speak to a faint outline of me?"

"How are we going to speak in there?" he nodded to the silver dish, absolutely sure that she was watching him.

"The pensieve and the memories within it are maintained with magic and I'm quite good with magic, even if I do say so myself."

Albus took a breath and stepped up to the pensieve. He looked into the luminescent liquid and let it take hold.

What formed around him looked like something from the nineteen forties. Slughorn, looking quite a lot younger and thinner than Albus had ever known him, was sitting in a posh restaurant, probably in London, surrounded by aristocrats. Business men in suits and ladies in fine dresses were dining at other tables while a think cloud of cigarette smoke hung in the air above them. Albus found himself seated at a table just across from them.

Albus recognised the man sitting across from Slughorn from his (former) portrait. It was Professor Armando Dippet, the Hogwarts headmaster that preceded Dumbledore.

"I really am quite impressed," Slughorn said before shovelling some turkey into his mouth. "How they got that many men off the beach without using magic is quite astounding."

"Miraculous, really," Dippet nodded, sniffing his cognac before taking a sip. "However, now that Britain has its army back, Churchill is utterly committed to war against the Nazis. Apparently, he's in the throws of planning some great invasion of Europe with the Americans."

"So, what's he like? Churchill?" Slughorn asked.

"I haven't met him myself but Minister Moon is keeping close contact with him. Says he's an utterly audacious man. Scotch for breakfast, champagne for lunch, port and gin in the afternoon and at least fifteen cigars in between," Dippet took another large gulp of his cognac. Apparently, to steel his nerves. "He also says he's brilliant and the only man that Hitler is afraid of."

Slughorn didn't seem to know how to respond to that.

"The Third Reich wants the world, Horace and Churchill intends to stop them. Our nation is going to be plunged into war. What that means for us, I don't know," Dippet sighed.

"Well," Slughorn said swallowing badly. "Hogwarts will be safe. It's as far from the frontline as can be. I seriously doubt the war will touch Scotland."

"I wouldn't be so sure. The minister has been telling me all about those dreadful flying machines of theirs…The _Luftwaffles_ or something. The muggles have become more dangerous than I ever thought possible…"

"That seems to be a common mistake in the wizarding world."

Albus jumped and turned to see a young woman was now sitting across from him. She was short, with mosey-brown hair and rosy cheeks.

"Is this what you really look like?" Albus asked, startled.

"No. This," Nemesis gestured to her own form, "is a clerk that works in the department of magical sports. She's from another memory of his, I'm borrowing it."

"Didn't know memories could be combined in a pensieve?"

"They can if I'm playing with them," she shrugged.

Albus had to admit, she was slightly easier to talk to when she was using the form of a perfectly ordinary looking woman as opposed to an ethereal swimsuit model.

"Is this what you wanted my opinion on?" Albus asked.

"No. Although I am interested to know what you think about the fact that the wizarding world never official joined the war effort?"

"I thought they made some kind of deal with Churchill; that if the Nazis ever reach England, then they would fight but they wouldn't go to war in Europe?"

"That's the official narrative. But, unofficial, I think they just got scared," Nemesis said.

"Who wouldn't be?"

"They weren't scared to fight. They were scared to be seen," she corrected.

"You think the wizarding world didn't get involved in world war II because they didn't want to risk exposure?"

"Twenty million people dead and the wizarding world does nothing? Certainly, sounds like them," she remarked.

"Them? You mean us."

"No, I mean _them_. I'm not one of them anymore and I don't think you are either."

"And what are you now?"

She looked at him for a moment and even though she was currently wearing a pair of big brown, kind eyes, he could see the fury behind them.

"There isn't a word for what I am. I told you, they tried to get rid of me completely. You don't name something you're trying to erase from history."

"Well…how would you describe it?"

"I don't know. Titan, demigod, superhero?"

"Hero?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

"You're right, maybe…crusader."

"And you're crusading against the evils of the wizarding world," he summed up.

"The wizarding world isn't evil, Albus. It's sick, diseased…gotta that tumour out before it spreads any further," she smiled.

"I thought it was on the mend."

"You mean all that pure-blood nonsense? Voldemort and his cronies? Please, if you've seen one dark lord, you've seen them all. Whiney, self-entitled brats throwing a tantrum, that's all it is. That's all it ever is. Just because Riddle had daddy issues, doesn't make him any different. Actually, that's what I wanted your opinion on."

Albus leaned back in his chair.

"Would you be terribly distraught if I killed you father?" she asked casually.

"What?!"

"He's outside, keeps trying to get through my shield. It's becoming annoying."

"My father and I might have our problems but I don't want him dead!" Albus yelled. Of course, no one in the memories could hear him and they all just continued with their dinner.

"Fine, fine, it was just a suggestion," she said holding her hands up.

Albus glared at her. "No, it wasn't. You mentioned my father in your letter and now you've brought him up again, why?"

She smiled coyly and shrugged.

"He's stuck outside so why do you care?"

"These things…interest me."

"What things?"

"If you dropped twenty pounds, wore glasses and had a lightning bolt scar on your forehead, you'd practically be his clone. And yet, you two couldn't be more different if you tried. How does that happen?"

"Talent skips a generation," Albus growled.

"No, I'm not talking about you being a crash test dummy for broomsticks, I mean you're just different. Harry could never manage Occlumency because he wears his heart on his sleeve but you've got a fortress inside your head because you're so well guarded. He barrels head first into situations relaying on instinct whereas you practically analyse everything at a sub-atomic level. You're analysing me, right now."

"You're surprised?"

"I'm excited!" she laughed causing Albus to look confused. "They all see you as some defective piece of machinery. Like you've got a piece missing…but, they don't get it. You're not missing a piece, Albus…you've evolved to live without it."

"I can't take credit for Darwinism," Albus said in a hollow voice.

"You can if it wasn't all natures doing. Your evolution took willpower, so did mine."

"It took more than that."

The was a darkness in his voice and his eyes that she immediately took note of.

"Have we come back around to your fourth year?"

"I said I'm not going to –"

"It's fine. I told you I wouldn't push you for details," she said backing off quickly.

Albus sat there, grinding his teeth for a second before something occurred to him.

"I think you already know."

"If I already knew, I wouldn't be asking…or not asking."

"You know I can see Threstrals."

She nodded.

"You've known that for a while."

She nodded again.

"But you're not interested in who I saw die," he said.

"Not as interested as knowing if you saw them die…or made them die," a sadistic grin fell over her face.

They had come to the core of it.

"What I want to know, Albus…is are you a killer?"

He was shaking. Battling to keep control of the memories and emotions that were surfacing, trying to force them back into the locked from inside his vault. With great effort, he met her gaze and actually managed a grin of him own.

"You show me yours, I'll show you mine," he quoted.

She smiled, this time in a mischievous way. She saw the game he was playing and she wanted to play too.

"What do you want to know?" She asked.

"How did you become like this?" he asked after a moment. Asking her who she really is was something she was going to make him work for. Her identity was the grand prize and he was going to have to beat whatever she put in front of him if he was going to win it so he decided to leave that question alone for now. He'd try and dig out a few details from the background first.

"The same way I just made you frightening for your father's life…I'm naturally curious," she admitted. "Ever since I was a little girl, I always had more questions than anyone could answer. And then, I found out I was a witch and instead of answering those questions, it just added more."

Nemesis was speaking casually but something in her tone made Albus realize that this was a sore subject. She had painful memories as well.

"Then I started asking the really big questions…like; _why_. Why do some people get magic and others don't? Why do they get it half-way like squibs? And when no one could give me a real answer, then I started asking the biggest question of all; where does magic come from?"

"People have gone mad trying to answer that," Albus said.

"I don't doubt it. I almost did. Mainly because of how many people told me to give up. _'You'll never find the source of magic on Earth!'_ , _'It's a fools errant, you daft girl!'_ , _'Stop looking for where it comes from and just be grateful that you have it!'_ , etc etc. And then, one day, in my seemingly endless search, I met this woman. And she told me all the same things that they did but much more aggressively. Said I was going to die if I carried on. But, even then, I refused. Those damn questions just kept swimming around in my head…and then…she gave me this look. I didn't understand it at the time, but I do now. It was pity. She knew I what was going to happen."

"What happened?"

"I found it."

The world might have cracked in half but Albus wouldn't have noticed. The source of magic itself. The place all their power comes from and she had found it?!

"Don't ask me to describe it, there aren't words."

"Why did she pity you?" he asked instead.

Nemesis sighed. "Because, she had found it too. And she knew what was waiting for me there."

"What?"

"The truth," she said, almost sad. "And the truth was, I wasn't ever really looking for the source, I was looking for my purpose. Poor little orphan finds out she's a witch, you've heard that before but with me, no prophecy. No dark lord to fight, just _'Hey kid, magic exists, don't know what you're supposed to do with it, bye'_. Ten years, searching high and low and when I finally found the source, I still had no answers. Because I'd been asking the wrong questions right from the start. Oh, I learned a lot from the source. I became more powerful then you could imagine. Didn't need a wand anymore. Didn't need anything anymore…except a reason…for existing. Needless to say, my new-found power frightened and angered the wizarding world but not nearly as much as my reluctance to share where and how I'd acquired it. I thought I was sparing them…they didn't spare me," she let out a single laugh of mirth.

"However, the experience did make me realize that it was time to start looking in the right direction so I turned my search for answers inwards. Got to know myself as I should have done, right from the start. Unfortunately, I also got to know the wizarding world and a lot of unpleasantness later, here we sit."

"But, things have changed. You said it yourself," Albus tried.

"The muggles have changed. The wizarding world hasn't. You're proof of that so if you hoped to convince me not to drain every drop of magic out of this school, you're wasting your time," she said getting back to business, her nostalgic moment gone.

"What about letting Anya go? Come on, she's pregnant, she can't stay here," he pleaded.

"Sorry, no dice. I'm channelling the schools power through myself to create that shield, it's not coming down until I leave," he stated. "And I'm not leaving until the well runs dry."

Albus shuffled in his seat, frustrated. "What about other amenities?"

"Such as?"

"Well, I know the girls are getting tired of peeing off the balcony but they are too scared to use the loos."

"You think I'm going to ambush them in the toilets? Really, Albus, I'm not your brother," she chuckled.

Across from them, Slughorn and Dippet stood from their table. Their meals were finished and they were bidding each other farewell until the school term started. The memory was about to end.

"So, they're safe?"

"Unless they do anything to annoy me," she nodded.

The women in front of him melted away with a surreal smile on her face. The memory dissolved around him and he felt himself being jerked back into Slughorn's office. It was exactly the same as it had been when he'd entered.

"You haven't answered my question," Nemesis voice once again echoed around the room. "Are you a killer, Albus?"

He walked towards the door and unsurprisingly it opened. She said she wasn't going to push him and she wasn't going to lie and from what he could tell, she hadn't done either. More importantly, he'd learned how she was so powerful. In fact, that wasn't all he's learned. She'd given away more then he'd expected. Whether it was on purpose or not was yet to be seen.

But considering what she'd just told him, he knew, no matter how much he didn't want to, he had to give back.

"Yes," he said and then he left.


	19. Stairway To Hell

**DAY 7**

With a huff, Rose, Dom and Melissa each dumped a stack of books onto the headmaster's desk. They had been going through the headmaster's collection for hours. It had been a small miracle when Albus returned with the new information he'd learned about Nemesis, not because he was unharmed but because it finally gave everyone else something to do.

If it hadn't been for that, cabin fever would have probably started to set in. It had been a week since the shield had come down and with all of them hold up in the headmaster's office, taking protective escorts to the bathroom and standing guard while they took turns having showers, they were definitely starting to get a little annoyed with each other's company.

A few arguments had broken out, one (almost) fight between Scorpius and Aiden and Albus was still getting angry looks from Bonde, so, having something to take their minds off things was definitely a good thing.

She hadn't sort another meeting with him but he was sure that she was watching him whenever he left the office.

"This is everything we could find," Rose explained. "Pile one are books that are actually about the origins of magic, pile two sort of references them and pile three is…well, we're not sure since most of them are in different languages and translation spells don't seem to be working on them."

Albus finished off the chocolate bar he'd been eating and grabbed one of the unknown books. "Ah, it's vulgar Latin, not traditional. You need to alter the spell," he said.

"You speak Latin?" Anya asked with raised eyebrows.

"I know…a bit," he said awkwardly.

He knew all of it. He had a language section in his vault.

Scorpius grabbed one of the books and started reading through it. A few minutes later he was chuckling to himself. "I think it's safe to say that the author of this one took the brown acid."

"I expect half of these are full of the more fringier theories," Rose nodded.

"Fringe isn't even close. He seems to think that the source of magic is a locked room in the department of mysteries."

"Dumbledore told Harry about that," Dom said, "the love chamber. Apparently, nothing can get in."

"I always thought the love chamber was filled with champagne, beds and Nina Dubrev. I kinda doubt it's the source of magic," Albus remarked. "Besides, the ministry was only established in seventeen o seven. Before that it was the wizard's council and they never mentioned anything about a love chamber."

"So, the love chamber is new…ish?"

"And the source is ancient."

"People have been searching for the source of magic for millennia," Bonde piped up. "How do we know there even is a source?"

"Because everything starts somewhere. The planet, the galaxy, the universe, humans, they all had a beginning. Magic must have had one too."

"And you really think she found it?"

"I would certainly explain how she's able to do all the things that she can do. Think of it like the sun. The surface temperature is about ten thousand degrees so if that is what the wizarding world metaphorically uses, well, she's been to the core which burns at about twenty-seven million degrees."

Scorpius put the book back on the pile and grabbed another.

"Well, if she's draining all the magic out of the school –" Aiden started but didn't get the chance to finish.

"I seriously doubt that the source of magic is inside Hogwarts," Albus said. "Chamber of secrets; yes, source; no. I'm not even sure that it's on this plain of existence. She didn't talk about it like it was an actual location. Maybe it exists all around us but on a different dimension or something."

"Well, that makes it a bit more difficult to even the odds, doesn't it?" Bonde snapped.

Albus bit back the retort that was already forming. He hadn't told them that Nemesis had mentioned another woman that had found the source and had tried to dissuade her from doing the same. Whoever that woman was, she wasn't in Hogwarts and that made it impossible for them to find her and possibly ask for help. If there was someone out there that could match Nemesis' power, it was definitely something he needed to look into but first he had to get everyone out of the school.

"There might be more books in the library. What to give me a hand?" he asked Bonde.

Albus had been making the majority of runs outside the office for the last few days. It didn't matter how many times he told them that Nemesis would leave them alone as long as they didn't step out of line, none of the others wanted to venture out.

"Fine," she said quietly. "I wanted to get somethings from my room anyway."

"And I need the loo, so, I'll come to," Scorpius said jumping up.

He wasn't going to tell Scorpius no, but he was hoping to get to the bottom of Bonde's bad mood away from everyone else. He'd have to talk to her while Scorpius was in the toilet.

The three of them left the office and set off down the corridor.

Scorpius ducked into the staff bathroom while Albus and Bonde stood guard outside. Since his time was short, he decided to start right away.

"Alright, what's going on with you?" he asked.

"With me?!" she hissed.

"You've been biting my head off ever since that letter showed up. Why?"

"You just answered your own question and you can't even see it!"

"Then educate me, Professor!"

"She sends you one little letter with a bunch of compliments in it and suddenly you're her bloody secretary! Nemesis, or whoever the hell she is, is evil! And you're not even trying to resist her, you just run off like a good little labradoodle whenever she clicks her fingers and sit down to a nice little tea party with her!" it was obvious that she'd wanted to say these things for a while because she wasn't hesitating to get them out now. She was furious but more than that, she was disappointed.

"She's not evil," he said simply.

"Oh my god! Now you're actually defending her?!"

"I'm not defending her! I'm trying to understand her and what I've learned tells me that she is not evil! She's angry, she feels betrayed, she feels as if the whole wizarding world has turned on her, because it actually did! She's been locked up in a cage with nothing but anger to keep her company and over time it has festered into a rage so powerful that she can't contain it anymore!" he yelled.

Albus was sure that Scorpius could hear them and was choosing not to come out of the bathroom just yet. He took a breath and lowered his voice.

"You're a natural born fighter, Alex and I completely understand that you think the only way out of this is a battle, but what if there is another way? What if I can make her see reason? What if I can convince her that she doesn't have to do this?"

"She doesn't strike me as someone that is going to change her mind, Albus!"

"Well, we don't know until I try."

"Maybe that's what she wants! Maybe she wants you to get close to her so that she can manipulate you!"

"I'm not ignoring that possibility!"

"But, you're doing it anyway?!"

"Yes! You think I won't do whatever it takes to get Rose and Dom and Scorpius out of here?! They're my family! I'll cut my own arm off if I have to!" he roared. "I know what you can do, Alex, I know how skilled and powerful you are but against Nemesis, you wouldn't last five seconds and I'll die before I let anything happen to you!"

What he said seem to stun her so much that she took a step back.

"I don't know what else to do," he admitted. "But, if I can do something, I will."

"Albus…" she whispered. There were tears forming in her eyes.

"I know you don't like it, but –"

"I'm afraid for you. I'm afraid she's going to get inside your head and she's going to change you," she pleaded. "And that one day you'll come back and you won't be you anymore."

Seeing her like this, so vulnerable, Albus just wanted to hold her. It didn't seem right. She was the fierce warrior witch and yet here she was on the verge of tears…because of him. What he was doing was hurting her and it made him hate himself. She was refusing to look at him.

Without thinking, he reached out and took her hand, squeezing it tight.

"Nobody can get inside my head. You should know, you've tried," he managed to smile.

She looked up and met his eyes. They stared at each other for what felt like hours and suddenly they weren't feet apart anymore They were close, very closer and getting closer.

Albus opened his mouth to whisper what he had wanted to tell her since the moment he'd met her but in that same second, the sound of a flush rang out and the bathroom door opened. He and Alex jumped apart and she quickly wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"Woo, I feel ten pounds lighter," Scorpius said with a goofy grin. "Shall we go?"

He started walking off down the corridor.

"He's subtle," Bonde remarked.

"I taught him that," Albus grinned. It was enough to make her smile.

They stopped off at her room and the boys waited inside while she did, whatever it was she was doing. They could hear muffled sounds of things being opened and closed but that was it.

Now that she was out of sight, part of Albus wanted to punch Scorpius for his timing.

"You two back on the same page?" he asked. Scorpius couldn't read his mind but he could read his expression. Albus nodded curtly. "Or have you started a whole new page?"

"What?"

"Look, I'm your best friend. No one is ever going to have your back the way I do which is why I'm telling you to be careful," he said sincerely.

"Careful about what?"

"About her," he nodded to Alex' door. "I just don't want to see you get shot down, alright?"

"Okay, first of all, I –"

He was cut off by a noise from down the corridor. It sounded like someone had dropped a bottle or something. He and Scorpius looked around towards the source of the sound just in time to see and very small person dart out of a class room and down the hall.

"That's Ben! Hey!" Albus yelled immediately charging after him. "Stop! We just wanna talk to you!"

"Come back here you stupid Hufflepuff!" Scorpius shouted, right behind Albus.

Ben cut into the main shaft that housed the moving staircases. When they caught a look at him briefly in the light, they almost stopped running after him from sheer shock. He looked practically feral. His Hufflepuff uniform was filthy and torn, his hair was wild and tangled and he had his arms full of pilfered items from the classroom he'd just ransacked.

"Ben, stop!"

But he didn't. He shot down the staircase onto the level below. Albus and Scorpius didn't give up the chase and dashed onto the same staircase he'd just crossed.

Suddenly it gave way, dipping low. Albus and Scorpius yelled as they were momentarily falling before crashing back into the steps. They managed to grab hold of the banister to stop from falling off the edge and plummeting down six floors.

"Ahh, what the hell?!" Scorpius groaned, trying to pull himself up.

"Scorp, hang on to something!" Albus said, eyes wide with panic.

"What?!"

"That wasn't an accident!"

The sound of gears turning and grinding together filled the main shaft and the staircase they were on jarred to the left before smashing straight into the wall. It only stopped for a second before swinging right and slamming into the other wall. Below them, all the other staircase came to life, moving left and right and up and down, disconnecting from one port and connecting to another like some kind of demonic time piece.

Their platform jolted again, flinging them off the banisters, through the air and onto another staircase that didn't stop moving, even for a second. They collided with the stone steps hard and pain shot through Albus' side. The staircase turned upwards causing them to roll backwards towards the exit to one of the corridors but before they rolled off, it dived downwards causing them to fall the other way.

Albus groped for the banister but didn't reach it in time. He flew straight off the end and for a split-second he was in free fall, about to drop a hundred feet. Something grabbed his wrist and he looked up to see Scorpius had hold of him. He couldn't pull him up with one arm though and Albus was left dangling off the end like a worm on a hook.

Another staircase turned towards him, preparing to lock to two together and squash him between them. With no other choice, he pulled his arm out of Scorpius grip and fell. He dropped fifteen feet before another swinging staircase shot out and caught him. Albus screamed in pain as he landed on the steps. The two above him slammed together, creating one single flight that connected one side of the shaft to the other.

The one Albus was on jerked almost like a donkey kick and flew upwards, smashing straight through the two that had just connected and causing Albus to fly through the air again, this time landing back on the one that Scorpius was on.

Light shot out from above them and one by one the staircases were hit with was looked like giant blobs of blueberry chewing gum the size of pillow cases. The blobs fixed themselves to the sections where the staircases connected causing them to stop moving. Above them, they saw Alex standing at the entrance to the corridor with her wand drawn.

She had locked the stairs up but they didn't even get a moment of relief. Groaning noises filled the shaft followed by the sound of cracking. The chewing gum was failing. Chunks of broken blue matter flew everywhere as the staircases broke free and continued their insane dance.

"Engorgio!" Alex yelled and blue light shot from her wand hitting the staircase Albus and Scorpius were on. The stairs began to grow and expand until it filled the entire level of the shaft. They continued to try and move but grew so large that they encompassed the entire diameter of the walls and only had an inch or two to move.

"Nice one!" Scorpius panted. He got to his feet and began to drag Albus up. "Oh, bugger!"

Great cracks started to appear where the enlarged staircase connected to the corridor. A golden light, like a great lasso shot from Alex' wand, wrapped around them and yanked them off the stairs and onto the corridor just as the overgrown staircase broke off and plummeted.

It smashed through all the other moving staircases and travelled before breaking apart and impacting far below on the ground floor. The shaft filled with a plum of dust and the great crash echoed through the school for several seconds after.

Albus and Scorpius groaned on the floor in front of Alex.

"Are you alright?!" she panicked.

"I'm no gymnast but that was a pretty terrible dismount," Albus said in pain.

"I think I did alright," she coughed out a laugh.

"Not you, me," he said holding up his hand.

It was covered in blood.

When he had fallen to avoid being crushed he had landed right on the broken weather vane that was lying on the steps and been impaled by it. There was a puncture in his left hip, right next to his kidney.

"Oh, my god! Albus!" she screamed and clamped her hand down on the wound that was leaking like hosepipe.

"Help me get him up!" Scorpius said, grabbing his arm and pulling it over his shoulder to carry him.

With Albus hoisted between them, they dragged him back to the headmaster's office, leaving a blood trail behind them.

Minutes later, they burst through the door causing everyone in the room to jump. "Rose, get the Dittany and find something we can use for a bandage!" Alex ordered as they careful laid Albus down on one of the beds.

"No, no Dittany, not yet," Albus gasped. His were unfocused and he was losing consciousness.

"No, we need to –"

"I think a bit of it broke off and AHH! Yep, right there," he said pointing to his stomach. The weather vein had almost run him right through. "You gotta get that out before you heal the wound."

Anya, with impressive strength, tore her own sheet apart and handed the clumps of material to them which they immediately used to plug the wound. Blood was already starting to pool under Albus's back and he wasn't going to be able to stay away for much longer.

"Get me a sharpie, a quill, something I can draw with," he said, slurring his words slightly.

Rose grabbed the quill off the headmaster's desk and dipped it in the ink pot before giving it to Albus. Her hands were shaking and her face was pale. Albus, with great care, pulled up his blood-stained shirt and drew and small line on the skin if his stomach.

"Listen, there's no organs, no arteries there so you're not going to kill me," he said struggling to keep his eyes open. "Just make a small incision and then use accio to get it out."

Bonde took and deep breath and pointed her wand at Albus's stomach. She looked like she really didn't want to do this and after a second, she hadn't done anything. Albus looked down and saw that her hand was shaking so much that she was in danger of cutting an autograph into him.

"It's alright, I'll do it," Scorp said taking out his wand.

"I'm sorry, the adrenaline…"

"It's okay, just be ready with the bandages," he said.

The was a collective breath from Rose, Dom, Melissa and Anya while Aiden looked ready to puke.

"Diffindo," he said calmly.

Albus hissed in pain as a slice opened up on his stomach. Blood dribbled out across his skin and he started breathing very quickly.

"Accio."

His body jolted and blood splatter across Scorpius and Alex' faces as a tiny piece of metal, no bigger than a paperclip, shot out of his stomach. Albus collapsed back onto the bed like a ragdoll. He hadn't yelled out. It had been so painful that he had locked up and gritted his teeth so hard that they almost broke.

Scorpius and Alex, ignoring the fact that they were now covered in his blood immediately went to work with the Dittany, using it to nit his wounds back together and stop the bleeding. They reinforced that with the bandages until they were satisfied that he wasn't losing any more blood.

"Well…unless you lot have any objections, I'm just gonna…pass out now…"

And that is exactly what Albus did.


	20. Opposites Attract

**DAY 10**

Voices swam around him as if they were coming though the floor. But slowly those voices got closer and became clearer until they were right next to him.

"Things have changed and we're going to have to act accordingly," Alex voice drifted in.

"I don't see what difference it makes," Scorpius voice said.

"You don't see what difference?!" that was Alex and she wasn't happy. "Scorpius, she practically turned him into a sheesh kabab and you think that doesn't changes anything?!"

"We obviously can't believe a word she says," Aiden's voice added. "She said she wouldn't hurt him and then he came back here bleeding all over the place with a chunk of metal in his guts."

"Actually," Albus groaned opening his eyes. It was daytime and the light from the windows hurt his eyes. He heard a hurried shuffle of people around him and saw the blurry outlines of his cousins and Melissa looking over him. "She said she wouldn't kill me and since I'm still alive, she's thus far kept her word."

"How are you feeling," Rose said fretting over him already.

"Like I got skewered. How long have I been out?" he asked.

"Almost three days. You lost so much blood," Dom whispered.

His stomach was heavily bandaged and had a few red splodges on it but for the most part looked clean. As did the floor and bed. They had cleaned up the blood he'd left behind and both Scorpius and Alex were wearing different clothes. She was in a blue tank-top and jeans while Scorp seemed to be wearing a shirt that was too big for him. Not surprising since all his stuff was now underwater.

"Three days…has anything happened? She attacked anybody?"

"No. It's been quiet. No letters or anything," Scorpius said handing him a cup of water.

He took a big gulp which was actually a bit painful but refreshing never the less.

"She's probably sulking, which is good," he said rubbing his eyes. His whole body ached and if he'd spent eight hours working out at a gym.

"How is that good?"

"Because sulking is often used to mask remorse," Albus said.

"Remorse? Albus, you don't actually think –"

"She lost her temper and she lashed out. I should have expected it," he said not bothering to look at Alex' angry face.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

"It's a theory I've had for a while now, she just confirmed it," he said groaning again as he very carefully sat up. "I think she's lonely."

"Lonely?"

"I think I'm the first person she's spoken to in a very long time. She's been starved of human interaction for who knows how long and now that she finally has it again, she's afraid of losing it. She saw me giving my attention to someone that wasn't her and she got jealous," he said being careful not to say exactly what happened between him and Alex.

"First you say she's really old and now she's acting like an infant?" Melissa asked looking confused.

"Doesn't want anyone else playing with her toys," Anya mumbled.

"Social skills diminish over long periods of isolation. She certainly displays sociopathic traits, including a degree of narcissism. But, she's also admitted her own faults and mistakes which means she still has a sense of right and wrong. You may find it hard to believe but this is actually good news."

"How is this good news?!" Alex demanded while pointing to his bandages.

"Because, it means she's nothing like Voldemort." They all stared at him, waiting for an explanation. "Voldemort was a textbook psychopath. He spent most of his time mimicking other people's emotions. He pretended to care about his followers and about pure-blood heritage but really his only real goal was beating mortality. He pretended that the death eaters were his friends but the truth was that he had no friends and he didn't want any. Nemesis craves interaction. I don't think it was an accident that we're here. She could have waited until everyone was out of the school before dropping that shield but she didn't because then she would be here alone and she doesn't want to be alone anymore. She wants company."

"Well, in that case, she has got a seriously messed up way of making friends!" Aiden spat.

"I don't think she wants friends, at least not wizarding friends," Albus said. "It's more about…stimulus. You don't have to like someone to have an intelligent conversation with them, you don't have to be friends in order to find someone's characteristics interesting. But you can't do those things alone. She said she was here to learn, well, just talking to other people is a form of learning."

"So, she wasn't just in prison, she was in solitary confinement," Scorpius deduced.

"Zero contact with the rest of the world. Imagine it…imagine going into a coma during the first wizarding war against Voldemort and then waking up again in this time. Leaders, laws, public opinions, everything has changed. You'd have to relearn everything. That's what she's doing and obviously her social skills have gone a bit native."

"Native?! She's gone feral, Albus! She tried to crush you two to death with a staircase!" Alex yelled.

"Several staircases," Scorpius winced.

"I didn't say I was gonna try and adopt her! I'm saying that whatever else she may be, she's still human," he urged. "And that's a start."

"You're going to talk to her again, aren't you?" Alex asked looking appalled.

"Yes, I am. If I don't, she'll get very angry and the next time she might decide hurt someone else instead. And I've already made my position on that clear."

"Did somebody transfigure you into a lemming because I swear you're suicidal," Anya snorted. "Should we take your belt and shoe laces away?"

"You know what, I'm done explaining this to you lot. You don't have to like it, you don't even have to trust me but you can't stop me, so drop it," Albus said getting annoyed. "And somebody get these damn bandages off please; they're itchy."

He began to stand and Scorpius and Alex rushed to help him, supporting his weight. Despite her disapproval of what he was doing, Alex helped him peel away the bandages from his mid-section. Rose and Dom gasped when they saw what was underneath. A patchwork of dark bruising had blossomed under his skin and stretched right around his stomach. But the bruising wasn't purple. It was dark red and black.

"Matches your hair," Albus smiled at her.

She didn't smile back but looked horrified at the damage to his body. "This looks really bad," she whispered.

"It's just a bit of mild internal bleeding. Could have been worse," Albus said unconcerned.

"My back looks about the same," Scorpius nodded. "I think I've got every shade of purple there is on there."

"You didn't bring back any sopophorous beans, did you? You can boil them down into paste which works really well on bruises," Rose said looking through the trunk they brought back.

"I didn't grab any," Scorpius admitted. "We'll have to pay a visit to the potions cupboard again."

"Isn't is weird how subdermal hematomas always end up looking like a Rorschach test?" Albus wondered while examining his own stomach. "I think that part looks a bit like a falcon."

"Don't get cute," Alex warned.

They all seemed a bit surprised that Albus was acting so cheerful after almost dying. It wasn't just because he was happy to be alive but because the whole experience had brought new information about Nemesis to light.

He was starting to understand her and if he could understand her, he could beat her.

Albus finished off his cup of water and tried stretching a little. Any kind of movement was stiff and sore but he was confidant enough that he could move around under his own power and gave walking a try. It made him feel a bit light headed and he realized that he hadn't eaten anything in the last three days.

Digestion was going to be difficult. The weather vane hadn't pierced his guts but the bruising was pretty close to them and would make it painful. He decided to stick with some of the crackers that would go down more easily.

After an hour or two of getting his strength back, Albus thought it was time to pay Nemesis a visit. He needed to gauge her attitude and see how this new development might have changed things between them.

"I think it's best if you go to the potions cupboard while I'm in the pensieve with her. I don't know how long I'll be in there, so don't wait for me," Albus said to his best friend who nodded.

He looked back at Alex before leaving. She had her arms cross and was still wearing an annoyed and troubled expression but she didn't give any objections which Albus took to mean that she was grudgingly starting to accept what he had to do.

He found himself back in Slughorn's office which was empty and silence. The pensieve still sat on the desk glittering peacefully. He approached it and looked into the liquid.

A moment later he found himself in what must have been the late seventies judging by how many people were sporting torn jeans and mohawks. The punk rock faze created by the Sex Pistols was in full swing. He saw Professor Slughorn, looking much more like the teacher his father had known, waddling down the street, out of breath. He was also casting confused looks at the punk rockers that passed him by. They must have seemed like aliens to him.

It looked like he was heading towards the Leaky Cauldron.

"How's the hip?"

Albus turned to see a young rocker with a nose ring, green hair and bomber jacket standing next to him. Her eyes were black with eye liner and she had purple lipstick on. Nemesis seemed to be changing form as often as possible.

"Sore, like the rest of me," Albus said angrily.

"You'll live," she shrugged.

"I'm not so sure."

"If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead," she remarked.

The endless stress of Londoners continued to pass them as they followed Slughorn down the road to the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron.

"Besides, I didn't push you onto that weather vane, Albus. You jumped onto it."

"I wouldn't have had to if you hadn't made the staircases go into a frenzy."

"I thought it was hilarious," she grinned.

"Oh, so this is just a game to you, for your own amusement?"

"Immortals get bored too, Albus, more so than normal people," she said casually before stepping into the wizarding pub. The place was packed with people and Albus realized that the current memory was probably set just before a new Hogwarts term was about to begin. But he didn't care about that right now. What she had just said had his full attention.

"Immortal?"

"How do you think I got like this, Albus?"

"You're a Sid and Nancy fan?" he couldn't help smirking.

She rolled her eyes. "You think I'd be using a pensieve to talk to you if I could just sit in a chair and chat? This is what happens when someone tries to destroy something that can't be killed. My body is gone, but my soul, my mind and my power are still very much alive."

"How is that possible? Even with Horcruxes, you'd –"

"Don't compare me to Riddle!" she hissed suddenly turning hostile. "That pathetic little worm only gained the notoriety that he did because the idiots that came before you allowed him to!"

"I don't think you're anything like him and you know it," Albus said, standing his ground.

"Horcruxes were nothing more than a failed magical experiment anyway. They never worked the way they were supposed to. That's why so few people in history have ever put them into practice and if Riddle had even the slightly spec of actual intelligence, he would have realized that."

"I'm guessing your method does work," Albus said.

They began walking again. Slughorn had stopped to say hello to about a dozen different people around the pub before heading outside and using the wall to access Diagon Alley.

"It wasn't intentional," she admitted. "I went looking for the source because I wanted answers, not because I wanted to live forever. But, it's sort of a package deal. You don't just find the source, you join with it. That connection still exists. I'm bound to magic itself and as long as it exists, so do I. Why do you think they locked me up? They knew they couldn't kill me…not for lack of trying though."

The alley was packed with students of all ages buying their school supplies with parents and friends. Some were ogling the new broomsticks while others pointed excitedly to shops like Ollivanders. Albus and Nemesis were completely ignored by all and had to speak with raised voices over the noise. They were really there after all.

"Is this the magisterial we?"

"Who did you kill?" she fired back.

"I've got a hole in my stomach because you got jealous! I'm owed an answer," he said.

"Jealous?! I'm not jealous of her!"

"No? Then why did the stairs go crazy?"

"Maybe I was trying to knock some sense into you!"

"Meaning?"

"You're being an idiot! I know how you feel about her and I know exactly what she's going to do. Sooner or later, you're going to have to confess your feelings to her and when you do, she is going to ruin you. She'll rip your heart out right then and there and not because she doesn't feel the same way but because she's scared and that fear will make her hurt you!"

"She's not the type to let fear get the better of her," he said weakly, knowing she was speaking the truth.

"She's a celebrity. An international celebrity and she won't be able to stop the fear of what people would think if she got together with the black sheep of the Potter family. At best, they'd call it an act of rebellion, at worst; they'd call it a scandal and she would be slut shamed wherever she went. Because that is how quickly these people can turn on you!" she yelled waving at the oblivious wizards and witches around them.

A shock went through his system as the pieces all fit together in his head. This was about way more than just being angry over her imprisonment. The fear she kept talking about was what had given it away. What had happened had been way more personal than she was letting on.

"You loved them, didn't you?" Albus asked, unable to restrain his realization. "This isn't about the wizarding world turning on you, it's about the actual people that did it. Who were they?"

"My family. I was an orphan, but they took me in. They taught me about magic and yes, I loved them. I would have done anything for them but it didn't matter. When they saw what I had become, they got scared. That fear ate away at them until they didn't see me anymore, they only saw a monster. My own family turned against me…just as yours will turn against you."

"No," he stated resolutely. "Whatever differences we have, I'd never hurt them and they'd never hurt me."

"But, they already have. I've heard the way you talk about them. Your brother thinks you're a freak, your sister keeps her distance and your father doesn't even know how to speak to you. None of them understand you and so they can't help but be afraid of you. That fear will grow and one day, you'll see it in their eyes…you will no longer be one of them," she said darkly.

She meant every word of it too. She wasn't just trying to unnerve him or push a response, she truly believed what she was saying because she had lived it herself.

"I don't believe you," it was the only think he could think of to say.

"I told you…I won't lie to you, Albus."

That statement hung between them for a moment before she spoke again.

"Who did you kill?"

She had told him about her, now she wanted one of his secrets in return. Albus steeled himself. He couldn't refuse.

"His name was Craig Bowker Jr. He was a Slytherin and he died by the killing curse."

"Which means you didn't actually kill him. You don't have the power to cast the killing curse," she said, looking very interested.

"I didn't cast the spell but I'm the reason he's dead. If it weren't for my actions, he'd still be alive and that is as good as murdering him myself," Albus stated.

"Is that why you only sleep four hours a night? Do you see him die in your dreams, over and over?"

"I don't dream anymore. I learned how to turn them off," he said.

"Dreamless sleep draught?"

"No. It's a method of inducing deep sleep for short periods of time. Same sort of thing that Einstein and Da Vinci used to do. You shutdown both your conscious and subconscious minds so you only need a few hours a day to recharge. The trade off it that you no longer dream."

"And you think that your father wouldn't find it frightening that you have so much control over your own mind when he has so little? Are you afraid because he can fly a broom or cast spells?"

"No."

"Because that is completely normal for wizard. What you do is _not_ normal. You're different and eventually that will be more important to them than anything else. Love is not the great power that Dumbledore liked to believe. Love is a wild animal. True, it may well save you from your enemies just like it did your father, but, make no mistake, it will also turn around and savage you if it gets the chance. I found that out the hard way."

"And you blame the entire wizarding world for what they did?"

"They're all products of their environment, Albus. Look at them all," she gestured to the young witches and wizards all around them. "So much potential, so many possibilities and yet, we now know that many of these people went on to join Voldemort when he returned. Many of them believed the pure-blood mania that was instilled to them by their parents and many of them went on to fight and die bravely for your father. How many of these decisions were influenced by the world they grew up in? How different would they be if the wizarding world itself were different? That's not to say that you and I are exempt. We've both been moulded by this world too and yet, look how different we are. So, I suppose the only real question is; are we products of nature or nurture?"

"I think they're equally accountable," Albus said surveying the people in the alley.

"And therefore, equally guilty."

"Or innocent."

"This was a long time ago, Albus. How long do you think any of them stayed innocent? How long did we stay innocent?"

"Not long enough," he admitted.

Albus walked back to the headmaster's office in a daze. There was simply too much to process. Every time he spoke to her, he learnt more about her. He didn't see her as some tragic antihero but she had been a victim. She had suffered for crimes she hadn't committed and all that injustice had led her to become Nemesis.

Voldemort, although he'd never actually met him, had never seemed even the slightest bit human. It made him a lot easy to hate and fight against. It harkened back to the old myths and legends of heroes defeating monsters like Bellerophon killing the Chimera or Perseus decapitating Medusa. No one ever felt sympathy for those monsters.

But he couldn't see Nemesis that way. She was a person who thought and felt just like every other human did. Some part of him did pity her but pity wasn't what she wanted. Not from him.

Just before he turned the corner that led to the headmaster's office he heard a pair of whispering voices.

"I know it's difficult but –"

"It went past difficult a long time ago."

It was Dom and Melissa. They weren't arguing but they didn't sound happy either.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not!"

Albus decided not to eavesdrop. He rounded the corner and showed himself. He already knew what it was about anyway.

"Albus!" Dom shrieked and ran over to him. She managed to stop herself from hugging him, remembering the hole in his gut. "Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine. Are you alright? Both of you?" he asked casting a look to Melissa.

"Yeah, err, we're fine, we just…" Dom fumbled with her words, looking slightly ashamed.

"I know it can't be easy for you two," Albus said softly.

"What can't? It's nothing, we're –"

"He knows," Melissa said, sounding bored.

"Wha - There's nothing to know," Dom said quickly, her voice becoming very high pitched.

"He knew Anya was pregnant and he's not related to her. You think he doesn't know about us?" Melissa said, stating the obvious.

"You…I…" Dom's voice died away. She couldn't even look at him.

He gently pushed her chin up with his hand, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"Do you honestly think I mind that you're a lesbian?" he smiled. "You're my cousin and I love you and I want you to be happy."

"See, told you he wouldn't care," Melissa said proudly with a smile.

"How long have you…?"

"About a year," he said causing her to look surprised.

"And Scorpius and Rose?"

"I haven't told anyone and I won't, until you two are ready," he said pulling her into a hug.

"It's just…it's not easy being stuck in the same room and yet we can't…"

"I'm guessing you don't like that arrangement either?" he asked Melissa.

"You know me, I don't give a shit what they might think. I only care what she thinks and she's afraid of how her parents will react," she said.

"Well, Scorp will just be happy for you. Rose will freak out but then she's Hermione's daughter and she freaks out about most things. Aiden will probably see an opportunity to perv over you two and Anya will probably think that your drama doesn't even come close to hers," he listed off.

"And Professor Bonde?"

"What, the living embodiment of _'girl power'_? She'll probably give Ravenclaw two-hundred points," he chuckled. "But, if you're not ready to tell people, then don't."

Dom blinked back tears, went over and hugged Melissa. They held each other for a second then Dom looked into her eyes and nodded. Melissa took her by the hand and led her back into the headmaster's office where it seemed they were about to end their own little secret.

Albus was proud of them.

Dom and Melissa were very different to each other. Melissa was wild, unabashed and often impulsive while Dom was refined, cautious and focused. After all his talk with Nemesis they had never touched on the fact that different wasn't always feared by others. Sometimes they found it interesting, even enticing.

Sometimes opposites attract. Sometimes being different to one another was what brought people together.

Albus and Alex were very different.

Albus and Nemesis were also different.


	21. Here The Be Monsters

**MAY 1** **st** **1998 – Near the Scottish Boarder**

Seven death eaters jumped up with their wands raised as some one came bursting through the door of the tiny cottage on the outskirts of the town. They all breathed a sigh of relief and stowed their wands bank into their robes when they saw it was their comrade.

"Any news?" Colden Rookwood asked.

"You could say that!" the death eater blurted. "Potter and his friends just broke into Gringotts!"

"What?!"

"Impossible!"

"How?"

"I don't know, but they managed to get inside the Lestrange vault and escape on the back of a bloody dragon!" the death eater reported.

"What did they take from the vault?"

"I have no idea, but it must have been important."

"Why didn't you get one of the goblins to see what was missing?!" demanded Rookwood.

"Because they're all dead!" he shouted getting all the attention in the room. "The Dark Lord went berserk. He slaughtered everyone in the bank. I'm just glad I wasn't there to see it."

"Potter escaped again? We should be looking for him, not guarding this stupid box!" one of the death eaters spat while gesturing to a large wooden crate on the table. It was about the size of a standard Hogwarts trunk and was locked with a simple padlock.

"The Dark Lord wants that box looked after. He wouldn't have sent us here if it weren't important," Rookwood said proudly.

"You don't even know what's in it!"

"It's not my place to know. Or yours!"

"We need to watch the skies. The dragon was last seen flying north and the Dark Lord suspects that Potter might try to re-enter Hogwarts," the death eater said.

"Hogwarts? He wouldn't stand a chance, the castle and Hogsmead are completely under our control," another one said.

"That doesn't mean we shouldn't be ready. If the mark burns then we have to –"

A small clanging noise sounded out as something metal rolled across the floor right into the middle of the group. Rookwook had exactly two seconds to look at the small metal cylinder with confusion before it exploded.

The most awesome blinding light erupted with a sound so loud and intense that their ears lost the ability to do anything but ring. Blinded and deafened, the death eaters tumbled and fell, desperately groping for something to hold onto. Some had tried to pull their wands but couldn't see anything to aim at.

Before the effects of the flashbang grenade could wear off, bullets began cutting through the air and hitting the death eaters one by one. Blood sprayed across the walls as the Squib moved fluidly through the room, killing all of them with deadly precision and merciless efficiency. His rifle had a suppressor attached to the barrel so only small snapping noises sounded out when he fired.

Rookwood had just about regained his sight when the Squib reached him. He raised his wand but it was batted out of his hand and landed on the floor in front of him. The Squib immediately brought his boot down on top of it, snapping it in two. He then shot Rookwood in both legs for good measure.

He screamed in pain, clutching the bloody wounds as the Squib quickly checked the area to make sure all the others were dead.

"You know, it's funny," the Squib said, pulling up a chair so that he could sit next the wounded death eater. "Most muggle kids would have hit the deck the second they saw that flashbang roll in here, but you gormless wizards just stood there looking stupid. I spos' it's to be expected, I mean, you lot don't even know how to work a phone so there's no way you'd know what a grenade looks like, right?"

Rookwood didn't respond. He just clutched his legs while groaning.

"Well," the Squib shrugged, "now you know. Learn something new every day…so, what's in the box?"

Again, he didn't respond so the Squib decided to step on one of the bullet holes. Rookwood hissed in pain and tensed up. "I don't know!" he managed to blurt out.

"You don't know…above your paygrade, huh? Well, your boss got eight of you up here to guard it, so I'm guessing it's important to him," he said pulling out a pack of cigarettes and sticking one in his mouth. "Smoke?" he offered.

Rookwood wouldn't even look at him.

"So, why is Potter trying to get back into Hogwarts?"

"I don't know…" Rookwood muttered breathing hard.

"What was in the Lestrange vault?"

"I don't know," he growled.

"You don't know what was in the vault, you don't know anything about Potter and you don't know what's in the box…is there anything you do know? Do you know how to make pancakes or how to bleed a radiator?" the Squib chuckled. "You know, it's probably better if I kill you…"

Rookwood looked up in horror.

"I mean, you can't tell Lord Mouldyfart that you were bested by a Squib, right? He'd torture you and anyone you were fond of and then he'd probably kill the lot of you."

"No, please…I…"

"See…this is what gets me…you call yourselves death eaters and then you start begging to live as soon as death gets close. You guys really aren't very good at this, you know," he said casually before putting a bullet through Rookwoods head.

He then turned a shot the lock off the wooden box on the table. He opened it up only to find another box inside it. This one was old, made of leather and metal and didn't seem to have an actual lock on it anywhere but was definitively sealed shut.

No doubt Voldemort had placed dozens of protective enchantments on the case to make sure only he could open it. He was going to have to try and find a way around those enchantments later. Meanwhile, just having it in his possession was a good thing because it meant Voldemort didn't. And if what the death eaters had said was even slightly accurate, Potter was heading for Hogwarts.

The school was two hundred miles north. If he could find a fast motorbike he could get up there in about two hours, maybe three. Then he'd have to steal a 4x4 or something else that could go off road to get close to the castle. If that's where Potter was going, then Voldemort was sure to show up at some point.

That might be his only chance.

He grabbed the case and left the cottage but not before setting it on fire.

 **DECEMBER 25** **th** **2024 – Hogwarts**

 **DAY 18**

"Tell me about your mother."

"Never expected you to take the Freudian approach," Albus smiled.

They were sitting in Slughorn's office, within Slughorn's office. This time it was a memory of one of his little get togethers with the Slug Club at Hogwarts back in his father's sixth year. Harry had managed to weasel his way out of this particular gathering but Ginny and Hermione were present, along with Anya's father, Blaise and several other Hogwarts alumni.

Nemesis had taken the form of Gwenog Jones, whom had been captain of the Holyhead Harpies quidditch team and a former student of Slughorn's. They were sitting across from each other in a set of large armchairs.

"You find it odd that an orphan might become interested in how someone that grew up with parents lived?" she asked.

"No, that I fully understand. My dad did it with the Weasley's after all. I just thought you'd probably already checked that box long before you ever came here," he explained.

"I met many people that grew up with parents and they each had different experiences. Now I want to know yours," Nemesis said.

Albus had actually met Gwenog several times when he was younger. Ginny had joined the Holyhead Harpies for a few years before becoming pregnant with James and the two still kept in touch. At the time he'd been too young to realize it but now Albus saw that she was very pretty. The form that Nemesis was wearing was from her final year at Hogwarts so she was the same age as Albus and hadn't sustained any major quidditch injuries yet.

"My father is the head of the family but my mother is definitely in charge," Albus summed up.

"Growing up with six older brothers, I can imagine that she had to find her strength early on," Nemesis remarked, glancing at the younger manifestation of his mother.

"More than she should have had to. It wasn't easy for her after the whole Chamber of Secrets thing. She told me she had nightmares for a long time and that a lot of the other students were still pretty wary around her but eventually, she learned to move on," he nodded.

"She shares many of the same talents as your father. Impressive magical skill and a talent for flying. Order of Merlin second class, awarded for valorous deeds during the battle of Hogwarts. All things absent from your life."

"I don't need you to spell out my short comings –"

"Oh, no, I didn't mean it as an insult," she said quickly. "I said they were absent from your life, I didn't say they were qualities you lack. The truth is, ninety percent of broomstick flying is done out of recreation and has very limited strategic value anymore. You've proven several times already that you are capable of finding ways around magic; your little explosive surprise for the Gryffindor's being the most recent example and Order of Merlin is a pompous mummery that bureaucrats use to pat each other on the back."

"You mean because it's often handed out for financial donations to the right people?"

"I mean, because it no longer has anything to do with its original purpose. The Order of Merlin was established centuries after his time as a way of celebrating people that chose the same path he did. Merlin pulled away from the wizarding world in favour of serving Arthur Pendragon and Camelot. A muggle king that ruled over a muggle kingdom. True, wizards and witches were always welcome in his kingdom, but most stayed away. In some ways, Camelot was the first attempt at integration between the two cultures, even though that was never its original plan. So the Order of Merlin was established to honour those that not only defended muggles but did it at the cost of leaving the wizarding world behind...which is exactly what you plan to do."

Albus couldn't help but laugh. The treatment Rose and Alex had cooked up from the beans had worked very well and his insides no longer felt like molten lead when he moved so he was also free to laugh again without immense pain.

"So, you think I would be worthy of the Order of Merlin if it still meant what it used to?"

"I think the Order of Merlin is a fancy award named after a man that hated fancy awards," she smiled. "Back then, they just used to call them knights."

"There are no knights in the wizarding world," Albus said.

"Mores the pity. Knights were to defenders of virtue. They were sworn to protect the innocent and uphold justice. Those things seem to have been lacking in the wizarding world for quite a while," she said.

"My mother protected the innocent during the battle, as did all the others that fought."

"They were the innocent and they were protecting themselves and each other. Not so much an oath as a choice. There is a difference, you know."

"An oath is a pled that regards the rest of your life, you don't stop following it just because the battle is won. A choice is something you make when you're deciding whether to fight or flee."

"Your mother chose to flight and I'm sure she would do so again if the situation ever arose so I suppose in some ways you could call it an oath…or rather an oath in waiting. From what I've found out, she almost wasn't part of the fight at all."

Nemesis glanced at Ginny again who was currently wearing a fact smile in response to something Slughorn thought was highly amusing.

"Yeah, her parents tried to stop her. Said she was too young to be there," he confirmed.

"Has she ever tried to stop you from doing something because you're too young?"

"No. She gives me a lot more freedom than she was allowed to enjoy. Molly was a very protective mother, like an old lioness fiercely guarding her cubs," he said with a faint smile. "But she knows the cubs are all grown up now."

"Bad analogy, Albus. Lionesses encourage their cubs to learn how to hunt from an early age."

"Because it's the lionesses that do the hunting for the pride. The Weasley's were all boys, except my mum. Molly always pushed her children to do the best they could, she just had trouble cutting the umbilical."

"But, Ginny never had that problem with you?"

"I'm not the youngest."

"Nor the first born."

"You think I'm suffering from middle-child syndrome?" Albus asked with a snort.

"Are you? Do you ever feel excluded from your family?"

"Middle-child syndrome is often psychosomatic, it has less to do with actual differences in personality and more to do with the preconceptions of family structure," Albus said quickly.

"Middle children don't fit in because they think they aren't supposed to?" Nemesis asked curiously.

"It's more common in America. So many politicians, celebrities and evangelical talking about what family is supposed to be, it leaves very little wiggle room to get your bearings. There is a fixed structure, _'the American dream'_ , that often says what a happy family is supposed to be and if you don't fall into that structure, well…it's very easy for children to believe that they are to blame because they're different."

"But, it's not psychosomatic with you. You _are_ different," Nemesis stated definitively.

"There is zero-point-seven percent difference between grizzly bears and polar bears that mostly effects the way they look."

"It doesn't matter how small the change, it has yielded some very big differences. Not just in your magical abilities but in the way that you think and feel."

"So, nature, not nurture."

"Nurture, struggling to catch up with nature. I think your mother affords you a level of independence and freedom in order to display her confidence and trust in you, which, in turn, hides how she really sees you," Nemesis said, staring at him intently through Gwenog's brown eyes.

"And how does she really see me?"

"Vulnerable. Fragile. How can her son possibly defend himself in the big bad world without magic? Personally, I think you're doing just fine but then, I don't share her maternal instincts towards you."

Albus let out a laugh whilst keeping his lips together. The way a person did when they didn't want to be noticed laughing.

"How do you see me?" he asked.

Nemesis studied him for a second, her eyes looking deeply into his. "I think a slayer feels empty without a monster to hunt."

This time he laughed out loud.

"You think I'm a monster slayer? Well…I'll take that as a complement," he grinned.

"It's not a complement, it's a necessity."

"Why?"

"Here there be monsters."

The look in her eyes said that she wasn't talking about herself.

Albus returned to the Headmaster's office a few minutes later. He looked out of the blown-out windows as he passed them as saw snow falling through the shield. It was difficult to make out he was sure he could still see faint movements from behind the great energy barrier. The ministry and whoever else was out there were still camped out, looking for anyway in.

His mother might have been out there. Suddenly he was wondering if Nemesis was right. Did his mother think he was fragile because he didn't share the same talent with magic that the other members of their family did?

"Merry Christmas," Scorpius said as he walked back into the office.

"Christmas? Is it really?" Albus said looking confused.

"Fraid so. Eighteen days…feels like months," he sighed. "Anyway, here."

Scorpius handed him a small chocolate cupcake with some crude icing on.

"Where did you find these?"

"I didn't find them. I transfigured them for some of the chocolate frogs and Rose did the icing using the sugar. Not exactly a Crimbo dinner but…"

"It's a shame Torrens doesn't have any plants in here or we might have been able to transfigure one into a Christmas tree," Dom said.

"You know Christmas trees were first used by Scandinavians," he said smiling at Alex.

"Really?" Anya asked looking interested.

"They weren't called Christmas trees back then," Alex informed after giving Albus a wry smile. "They were used by the Vikings because they believed they were a gift from the god, Balder."

"A tradition later adopted by the Germans who used evergreens to represent the tree of knowledge when doing renditions of the story of Adam and Eve. Mainly because they lasted a long time after being cut down and brought into the theatre," Albus added.

Alex gave him another smile before turning away. That fact that he'd clearly researched her countries heritage was quite flattering.

"She say anything interesting?" Scorpius asked after he bit into the cupcake which unfortunately tasted very dry.

"She said the order of Merlin is a load of bollocks," he answered after swallowing.

"My dad's been saying that for years," Scorpius shrugged.

"That's it? That's all you talked about?" Rose asked looking suspicious.

"No offence, but I doubt you'd understand the other stuff we –"

"Try us!" Aiden hissed.

"Alright," Albus said happily. "We talked about genetic diversity and psychosomatic adolescent divergence in relation to preestablished parental conformities," they all looked at him like his spouted antlers. "Oh, and today, she was wearing Gwenog Jones."

"Really?" Aiden perked up. "Your mum knows her, right?" he asked Rose.

"Yes, and she's not a fan," Rose said grumpily.

"Well, I'm sorry to crush your hopes but Nemesis didn't get us any presents either," he said slumping down onto his bed.

"Pfft, Scrooge," Melissa muttered.

Albus chuckled.

"I'd settle for some eggnog…some very strong eggnog," Aiden said sipping his tea.

"Urg! How can you drink that stuff?" Melissa cringed. "Just thinking about it makes me want to –"

Anya suddenly darted to the balcony and threw up over the side of it. Her morning sickness (or more accurately, whenever sickness) hadn't been much of a problem lately but apparently it was back with a vengeance.

She emerged a few seconds later, red faced and wiping her mouth. Without a word she rushed out of the office and down the corridor towards the staff bathroom.

Albus got up to go after her but Scorpius beat him to it. Alex went after the pair of them a few moments later.

Nemesis had been good to her word and hadn't harassed any of them since the staircase incident but most of them were still nervous to leave the office. Albus was the only one that wondered the halls without a care and they still found that hard to believe since he was the one that ended up with a piece of metal through his stomach. He was also the only one that ventured out alone with the others either going in small groups or everyone going at the same time.

Scorpius managed to find Anya in the bathroom a few minutes later. She was bent over a sink repeatedly washing her face and gargling with water to get the taste of sick out of her mouth. She saw his reflection in the mirror and stopped, breathing heavily.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"That is officially the stupidest question you've ever asked," she said looking at him in the mirror.

"You're right, but I'm obliged to ask."

"Because you want to pretend that you're concerned?"

"Because I _am_ concerned," he said firmly.

"Why? You all hate me…I'm the queen Hogwarts bitch, remember?" she sounded tired, not just exhausted but tired of everything.

"I'm afraid your throne has been taken."

"No shit," she laughed for a second then start crying.

She covered her face with her hands as he rushed over to her.

"Hey, it's okay," he whispered pulling her into a hug. It was awkward to say the least. Never in a million years did Scorpius think he'd be hugging Anya Zabini but then again, their seventh year was turning out to be a bit unusual.

"It's not!" he sobbed. "My family's gonna disown me…"

"Of course, they're not. You family loves you."

"When they find out…" her voice was muffled as she buried her face into his shoulder.

"Anya? Are you okay?" Professor Bonde's voice asked through the door.

"It's okay. Everything's fine," Scorpius shouted back, hoping that he could read the tone of his voice and wouldn't enter the bathroom. He turned back to her. "Anya, you're not going to be disowned."

"You don't know that!"

"I know Albus. And he will get us out of here, I promise," he whispered.

"He saved my life," she whispered back.

"I know."

"I've been so horrible to him…to both of you," she said before crying even harder.

"It doesn't matter now. We're all in this together," he hushed. "Besides, you're not so bad…not sure you belong in Slytherin though."

Anya choked out a laugh. "Oh, and you do?"

"Meh, seemed like a good idea at the time," he smiled.

"Right bunch of misfits, aren't we?"

"Yeah, but it could be worse…we could all be pregnant," he shrugged.

She slapped him on the arm but didn't stop crying. The baby was really worrying her, or rather her family's reaction to the baby.

"What do I do?" she breathed.

"I can't tell you what to do. If you want to keep it or not…it has to be your choice. But, one way or another, you're going to have to tell the Goblin that you –"

"Goblin?!" she snapped.

"Or ghoul, was it a ghoul? A troll?" he grinned wickedly.

"No, you little prick!" she shrieked but still looked amused.

"Does he know? The father?"

"No…I didn't even know until about three weeks after we got to the castle…"

"Do you think –"

"I don't know. It was just one night…we haven't even spoken since…It was just…"

"It doesn't matter…whether it was half-blood, pure-blood or a muggle," he said immediately noticing her reaction to the word _'muggle'_. Anya had slept with a muggle, "you've done nothing wrong. Hell, our bodies were literally built for this sort of thing. Yes, your parents are in for quite a shock, but in the end, your decision is the only one that matters. And what ever you decide, you won't have to face it alone. You have friends here," Scorpius said sincerely.

She looked at him for a moment, her tear sickened face seemingly frozen and then, all of a sudden, she kissed him.

Scorpius didn't know how to react. Her lips were just on his and he was frozen solid. He knew pregnant women's hormones often made them act oddly but he definitely hadn't been expecting her to –

The bathroom door opened and just when Scorpius thought things couldn't become anymore surreal, he and Anya broke apart just in time to see the utterly shocked and horrified face of Rose Weasley.

"Oh, sorry…sorry…I…" she mumbled, cheeks flashing red with anger, before turning very quickly and marching away.

Scorpius remained rooted on the spot, trying to figure out what exactly had just happened.


	22. We Need To Talk About Ben

As it turned out, Rose handled jealousy much the same way her mother did; with all the grace and dignity of a Yak falling down a spiral staircase.

Whenever anyone tried to talk to her, she would answer with very quick, high-pitched words and completely refused to make eye-contact. But when Scorpius, Anya and Alex returned to the headmaster's office, she had suddenly begun a truly sickening and over-the-top display of affection towards Aiden.

Anya just wondered over to her bed, sat down and began quietly reading a book while Scorpius collapsed next to Albus looking like he'd been clubbed over the head by a troll.

"What the hell did you say to her?" Albus asked with a smirk.

"I…err…." Scorpius mumbled before explaining what happened in the bathroom.

By the end, Albus couldn't help but chuckled when he saw Rose's attempt to pretend that Scorpius didn't actually exist.

"She was upset…I was just trying to cheer her up…" Scorpius repeated for the fifth time.

"Did kissing her cheer her up?"

"I didn't kiss her!" he snapped. "She kissed me and I just…sort of…"

"Panicked?" Alex finished for him also looking amused.

Scorpius looked like he wanted to say something but his response died in his mouth.

"Told ya, jealousy always works," Albus said smugly.

"Wow," Alex said sarcastically, giving him a dirty look. "You really have cracked the female mind, haven't you, Albus?"

"Well, I don't think anyone could do that…" Albus said looking a bit sheepish.

"You two have really never had girlfriends before, have you?" she asked.

They shook their heads. "Not for lack of trying," Scorpius mumbled looking down.

"That explains a lot," she shrugged before smiling at Scorpius. "You're adorable."

She trotted off to see how Anya was leaving Scorpius looking even more confused than before. Rose, who was still resolutely refusing to look at either of them now, had clearly been eavesdropping because she tensed up slightly before pulling Aiden into a snuggle.

Scorpius must have asked her out twenty times in two years and most of the time she had just told him no but occasionally she had pretended not to hear him at all. Albus realised that at some point along the line, Rose had actually started to like the attention. Having Scorpius endlessly pining for her was a compliment that she'd grown used to and now, seeing him lock lips with Anya, had made her as angry as Nemesis when Albus shown affection towards Alex. Of course, Rose probably wasn't going to set a bunch of psychotic staircases on them.

It was true. For all his brain power and the amazing things his mind vault could do, he would never understand women.

Albus stood up and walked over to where Anya and Alex were talking. They were conversing normally, as if nothing had happened.

"Feeling better?" Albus asked.

"Men are so lucky that they don't have to go through all this," Anya grumbled.

"Yeah, but men aren't as tough as women," Albus said.

That brought a smile to Alex face.

Anya looked down and started feeling her stomach. Her baby bump hadn't started showing yet but it wouldn't be long now. It usually started somewhere around the fourteenth week which was around the same time as Albus' birthday.

He couldn't help coughing a laugh. He's been so focused on his birthday when he'd arrived, counting down the days until he turned seventeen and became a 'man' and had full control over his life, but, ever since Nemesis had come out into the open, he hadn't thought about it once and it was only two weeks away.

"You're not going to give birth in this castle, Anya. I promise," Albus stated.

"I thought you already asked Nemesis to let me go and she refused?"

"Things can change. No matter how much she hates wizards and witches, she's rational enough to know that an unborn child hasn't done her any harm, nor could it."

"Rational? Personally, I think she's lost it," Alex snorted. "She was locked up for too long and her mind has broken."

"Dismissing her as a lunatic is a mistake. People did the same thing with Sirius Black," he warned.

"Sirius Black was a tragic hero. He was innocent," Alex reminded.

"And they never gave a second thought to his claims because they labelled him a psychopath. Arthur C. Clark said; any sufficiently advanced technology would be mistaken for magic. That principle is true here. Nemesis thinks so differently than anything we've ever encountered that we can't understand it so we turn to our old stand-by's and call it something we do understand. It's a lot easier to simply call her evil than to try and really figure her out."

"She invaded this school and has shown zero regard for the safety or right of the students inside it. She's malicious and hostile and I know you want to believe that she can be reasoned with but don't ask me to believe the same!" Alex growled, getting angry.

"It's not a belief, it's a theory and that theory might just save our lives!"

"At what cost? You are getting too close to her! Spending hours inside that pensieve with her and then you won't tell us what you two are talking about!"

"I do tell you!"

"You give us the bare minimum of information and when we ask for details you dodge the question!"

"Maybe it's none of your business!" Albus roared.

Alex looked stunned for a second then stood up and got in his face. She was furious and she wasn't known for backing down.

"Not our business?! I thought we were all in this together but apparently I was wrong!"

"We are all in this together," he admitted.

"No, Albus! _We_ are all in this together," she gestured to everyone else in the room. "You're in this with _her_!"

And with that she stormed away from him. Albus blood began to boil. Every he talked about Nemesis, she got angry. Why couldn't she understand what he was trying to do?!

"Sorry if I'm actually trying to be useful! It's not like you're do anything to get us out of here!" he yelled.

"Useful?! How about saving your dumb ass from being crushed by a staircase?!" she screamed back. "Oh, that's right, she was never going to kill you," she snorted.

The whole room was looking distinctively uncomfortable. The others all seemed to be struggling with whether or not to try and stop their argument before it went any further. Naturally, it was Scorpius that stepped up.

"Alright, stop, both of you!" he said stepping between them.

"No, let her speak, it's pretty obvious that she's been wanting to say these things for a while!" Albus barked.

"What, that you are so desperate to actually matter that you're willing to crawl into bed with the thing that put us here in the first place?!" she spat.

Albus felt like he'd been impaled again. _'Desperate to matter'_ , that hit him much harder than he thought, mainly because she had said it.

She didn't think he mattered.

"I didn't ask for this to happen," he whispered, unable to look at her anymore. His white-hot rage had died and had been replaced by a cold emptiness.

"Enough! Lunging for each other's throats isn't going to solve any problems or change the fact that we are trapped in here! I know we're all frustrated and Ben – "Scorpius suddenly yelped and pointed at the Marauders Map that was still open on the headmaster's desk. "Ben's in the Ravenclaw common room!"

Momentarily distracted from the outbursts of Albus and Alex, they all looked at the map and sure enough, his name was floating about in the common room. Without a second thought, Albus took off out of the door, followed by Scorpius, Alex and then everyone else.

Whatever had just been said between Albus and Alex, no matter how much it had hurt him, Ben was more important. That poor kid needed their help.

They bolted down the corridor and rushed through the open portal to the common room. It was every bit the mess it had been before but a few things had been moved. Ben had been going through the items in the room, salvaging whatever he could, but there was no sign of the boy himself.

"Ben! I know you're in here," Albus yelled. "We just wanna talk to you."

"Come on, mate. Come out," Scorpius added.

Once the others had entered the room, they all began to fan out and search for him. They'd made quite a racket getting there and Ben had probably heard them and decided to hide.

"Ben, we just want to help," Rose said.

"You'll be safe with us," Melissa agreed.

"Come out, kiddo," Aiden said, looking behind a collapsed bookcase. "Come with us and we'll have a nice cup of tea and a chat."

There was a tiny creak from the boy's dorm. They approached carefully and arrived at the destroyed room a moment later. The dorms weren't huge and there were only so many places he could hide. Albus first guess was the closet. It was big enough for a person and one of the only things in the room still standing.

He slowly opened the door.

With a scream, Ben leapt out, apparently attempting to tackle Albus, but he moved aside and Ben shot straight past him, landing on the floor in a heap. He jumped up a second later and rushed towards the wall, trying to put as much space between himself and everyone else as he could.

He was shaking all over and his movements were jerky, as if he'd had about seven expressos a few minutes earlier. His eyes were wide and wild as he looked from one person to another.

"Easy, easy, kid, it's alright," Alex said in a soothing voice, holding her hands up.

"Ben, hi, you remember me?" Albus said, getting his attention.

Ben nodded frantically. "You're Albus."

"That's right. We've been looking for you. Are you okay?" it was a stupid question. Ben looked as if he'd survived a plane crash and been trapped in the wilderness for weeks. His clothes were ripped and filthy, he had dust and cobwebs in his hair and dirt on his face and hands. Albus wasn't sure he wanted to know where he'd been hiding in order to avoid showing up on the Marauders map but he seriously doubted that he'd been camped out in the room of requirement like Dumbledore's army had done. It looked more like he'd been trying to crawl through the walls in order to get out.

"You need to come with us, okay?" Scorpius said offering his hand. Ben recoiled from it. "Okay, fine, personal space is good."

Scorpius took a step back not wanted to frighten him anymore than he already was.

"Ben, we're staying in the headmaster's office. It's safe there," Dominique said.

"Nowhere is safe!" Ben yelped. "It's everywhere!"

"It's alright, she won't hurt you," Albus said. "She's left us alone and if you come with us –"

"She?!"

"Yes. We've made an arrangement with her."

At that, Ben's eye lit up with absolute terror. "You're helping it?!"

"What?! No, no, she's not here for us. I spoke to her and –"

"You're helping it! You helped it do this!" Ben yelled, pointing a shaking finger at him in accusation.

"No, no, I had nothing to do with this," Albus said urgently. It was amazing and terrible that he was now accusing him of the same thing that Alex had been just minutes earlier.

"You've always hated this school!" Ben cried. "You helped that thing take it over!"

"Ben, you need to calm down. We're trying to –" Albus stopped mid-sentence and looked at Ben with a baffled expression.

"Ben, Ben, look at me," Alex said stepping forward. "Do you know me? I'm a Professor, I can help you. I can protect you."

"You can't protect me, nothing can! Not from that thing!" he moaned with tears appearing in his eyes. "I found a way out…the only way out…" he seemed to be talking to himself.

"You did?! Where, how?!" Aiden demanded.

"There's no other way…" he whispered.

Albus went taught as a piano string.

"Ben, listen to me, we –" Alex tried but Ben moved so suddenly that it caught her off guard.

He bolted, not for the door, but for the open window.

"No!" Alex screamed and rushed to stop him but Albus wrapped his arm around her waist and held her back.

Ben dived straight out of the window and plummeted over a hundred feet down.

Rose screamed and Dom, Melissa and Anya froze with shock. Ben had just committed suicide.

"No! What have you done?!" Alex screamed in horror, wrestling Albus off her. "I could have stopped him! Why did you –"

No longer able to express her horrified outrage with words, Alex draw back her arm and sent a devastating right hook straight into Albus' cheek. His head jerked backwards and fell to the ground, looking dazed and in pain.

"Oh my, God, poor kid," Anya whimpered.

Alex buried her face in her hands, unable to believe what had just happened.

"What the hell?!" Scorpius gasped. He was looking out of the window towards the ground. "Where's his body?!"

Everyone looked up in confusion.

"There is no body," Albus sighed, rubbing his face. "Because there is no Ben. There never was," he said getting to his feet.

The jumped and spun around to see Ben, leaning against the wall with a satisfied grin on his face. The sound of his hands clapping had startled them and he was looking solely at Albus.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to figure it out," he said.

With a final smirk he transformed into Professor McGonagall, looking just a stern and imposing as she did, complete with her half-moon glasses and pointed hat.

"What gave it away?" Nemesis asked.

"Ben looked like he'd been living in his own filth for the last few weeks and yet…I couldn't smell him," Albus answered, still rubbing his face.

"Ah, well, all illusions have their limits," she shrugged.

Albus recalled that in all the times he'd seen Ben, he'd never actually touched him either. He'd seen Ben touching other things like the rubble he was trying to shift during their first meeting but that hadn't been real either.

"Why would you do this?" Breathed Scorpius.

She had never spoken to any of the others before and they were now frozen with fear.

"Why not?"

"Because it amuses her," Albus growled.

"Amuses, informs, there are a many different ways to learn about people. What they do when under extreme stress is one of the more interesting," Nemesis smiled and turned to Alex. "For instance; Professor Bonde. When confronted with a situation that she can't simply fight her way out of, gets increasingly more frustrated and bad tempered. And when you call her out on that, she throws it back in your face because if she admitted it, she'd have to face the fact that she's weak. In here, she's not the great warrior witch that the world thinks she is, she's just a scared little girl that doesn't know what to do. I was half hoping that you would dive out the window."

"What do you want, Nemesis?" Albus asked trying to get her attention off Alex.

"A little less whining from you lot would be a good start," she said. "You people have no idea what it is to be truly trapped. If you're all so desperate to get out of the school, well I just showed you how. Take the same escape he did!"

"You know that's not going to happen."

"Well, then you really need to open your eyes! I didn't get a window to dive out of. There was no easy escape through death for me. My imprisonment was absolute and by comparison, you people are living in the lap of luxury and yet here you are, complaining about how unfair it all is. Grow up!"

She paced the common room throwing nasty glares at each of them which were twice as bad as the real McGonagall's but no less degrading.

"Socrates said; _the only thing I know is that I know nothing_. That humble bit of wisdom is one the wizarding world has never acquired. You people have no idea what true suffering really is and I can promise you, Professor, that the day I do become _'malicious and hostile'_ , you'll learn. You all think you understand things, when really you have no idea. You don't know tragedy, you don't know loss, you don't know betrayal and you certainly don't know magic!"

They were all too stunned to speak. Dom had gripped Melissa's hand tightly, Scorpius had shifted slightly so that he was in front of Anya, Aiden looked ready to bolt from the room and Rose was on the verge of tears. Even Alex had turned palest white and was shaking. Only Albus seemed unafraid.

"That's lesson number two, by the way. The wizarding world only thinks it understands magic, emphasis on the word 'thinks'!"

"In that case, they probably never will. We're not like you, Nemesis," Albus said calmly. "Even if we were to experience the exact same things that you did, our reactions and feelings would be different because we are different. No one will ever truly be able to understand magic the way you can and no one will ever truly understand your pain but that doesn't mean we can't relate."

"You can…them, no," she said nodding to the others.

"Then you don't need them here. Let them go, I'll stay."

"I told you, that isn't going to happen!" she laughed to herself for a second before looking at Albus again. "We have more in common than I thought. Here you are, trying to protect these people because you care about them and all they can do is beat you to the ground…give up trying to help them, Albus. Save yourself instead…or you might just end up like me."

The illusion of Professor McGonagall vanished like smoke being hit by a stiff breeze. The dorm remained deathly silent for a moment before Albus turned and walked out of the room without a word. Scorpius caught up to him a few moments later as he walked through the corridor.

"You okay?" he asked quietly.

"Is my face still attached because I can't feel it," Albus said once again rubbing his cheek.

"Yeah, it's still there."

"She hits like sledge hammer," he groaned.

"You know she didn't mean it," Scorpius tried.

Albus didn't respond. When they reached the turn that would take them back to the headmaster's office, Albus started going in the other direction.

"Where you going?" Scorpius asked.

"For a walk, I need to think," he said.

Scorpius didn't argue and Albus left before the others caught up with them. He wondered through the corridors in a sort of daze, looking but not seeing the castle anymore. He was drifting in and out of the vault with almost every step he took.

There was now so much to go through, that he barely knew where to start. All those off-hand comments about her suffering, she clearly wanted his sympathy. But she was also trying to alienate him from the others and his family. Whether it was to protect him or because she simply didn't want to share his attention with anyone else was yet to be seen.

And all the references to ancient Greece? Taking the name of a Titan, quoting their tales and philosophers, maybe she was from that period or maybe she simply admired it. Some one with her level of power would certainly have been worshipped as a God back then.

Albus got the distinct impression that she was hinting at something with all those references but he couldn't think what it might be.

But, under and behind every thought about Nemesis were thoughts about Alex. She had hit him. It had hurt…a lot, but not nearly as much as what she'd said to him before. After what Nemesis had said about her and the way she'd reacted to it, maybe Alex had simply been lashing out with her own fears? Maybe she didn't really mean what she'd said?

Like Socrates, the only things he was certain of at this point were the things he didn't know.

He was broken out of his thoughts when he realized he'd suddenly gotten a lot colder. In his daze he had wondered straight out into the quad. The sky was its usual luminous white but not just because of the shield. Snow had started to fall over the castle, drifting through the barrier completely unimpeded. It was already starting to lay on the ground.

One thing he did know after all; he didn't like Christmas anymore.


	23. The Lying Light

**DAY 28**

Albus spent very little time in the headmaster's office over the next few days. The fallout of what had happened with Ben and the argument between he and Alex still hung in the air. He spent most of the time just wondering the castle, looking over the shield and making frequent trips to his vault. Occasionally he would linger just near the door of the headmaster's office in order to eavesdrop on what the others were doing, or rather what they were saying about him.

"Aiden, you're over reacting," Dom's exasperated voice said.

"Didn't you hear the way he was talking to her? Like they've known each other for years," he responded.

These concerns were the same sort of thing he'd been hearing for days now. After they'd seen the way he and Nemesis were around each other they had all started to question his loyalty or at least Albus's state of mind.

He leaned against the wall to hear a bit better.

"He has been talking to her for quite a while, you know," Melissa said.

"She said that he was the only one that could relate to her," Aiden continued. "I mean it. Those two are getting seriously close to each other."

"He doesn't have a choice in that," Scorpius said, sounding angry.

"I don't think he'd say no even if he did have a choice," Aiden snorted. "I don't know if we can trust him anymore."

"If you could pull your head out of your ass and stop trying to emulate his brother for two seconds, you remember that Albus was the one trying to get everyone out of the school before she took it over!" Scorpius growled.

"Exactly! He knew what was going on before anybody else. Makes me wonder what else he knew."

"Albus is with us! He's gonna get us out of here!" Scorpius yelled.

Scorpius was always the one that defended him. His best friend would never believe for even one second that Albus was turning against them. But, it was the things that weren't said that really hurt Albus. The silences that came from Rose and Alex whenever the subject was brought up.

Alex hadn't spoken to him since the Ben incident when she'd punched him. Whenever he did enter the headmaster's office, he caught her glancing at him on occasion, looking like she did want to speak to him but the words never came out.

He should have been more used to this sort of thing by now. Ever since he'd been sorted into Slytherin people had suspected him of having a dark nature. Some had even called him the Cursed Child and believed that he was going to become an evil wizard. Of course, those ideas had died off when he showed no talent with magic and people had instead just started calling him the Slytherin Squib instead.

"Why have you not come to the pensieve?"

Albus turned to his left to see a teenage Luna Lovegood standing there wearing her trademark butterbeer cork necklace and radish ear rings. Her long dirty blond hair cascaded over her shoulders and she was fiddling with a few of the strands. It was a perfect copy of her from her Dumbledore's Army days except that her usual dreamy expression was absent and she was looking at him almost concerned.

"Don't suppose you're ever going to show me what you really look like?" Albus asked.

"That would only serve as a distraction. Answer my question," she said.

"I wouldn't be very good company at the moment," he sighed.

"I disagree. I think now, more than usual, is the time you should be talking to someone."

"Someone or you?"

"Me, obviously."

"I'd rather be alone."

"Sounds like you might just get your wish," she said nodding towards the doors.

"Thought that's what you wanted," he said in an accusatory tone. "To separate me from them? Isn't that why you insist on speaking to me inside the pensieve even though you can create these illusions? Because we're alone in there?"

"Did you ever consider that maybe I'm trying to protect you?"

"Trying to save me from your fate?"

"I know exactly how quickly the wizarding worlds opinions can change. And you should to. Your father suffered the same when he first tried to warn the wizarding world of Voldemort's return and you've suffered nothing but prejudice since you arrived at this school. It's disappointing to see that hasn't changed, even now."

"Disappoint requires expectations. I gave up hoping that they would accept me a long time ago," he said.

"Probably for the best."

"Probably," he nodded. "But I'd still like some time with my thoughts."

"Alright. But, I'd like some time with your thoughts too. Come and see me when you're ready," she said and the image of Luna disintegrated into nothing.

Albus left the corridor, not wanted to hear anymore of their fears about him. He walked the parameter of the shield, looking at the blurred outlines of the people on the other side. There must have been hundreds of them. He could just make out the city of tents that had been set up all along the grounds as if it were the quidditch world cup.

He couldn't imagine the frustration that his father must be feeling. The saviour of the wizarding world reduced to nothing more than a tourist, staring through a glass dome at the place that had once been the centre of his existence. How powerless he must have felt.

The same feelings were probably running wild inside Alex. The unstoppable warrior witch, confronted with an opponent she couldn't possibly defeat. No wonder she had lashed out at him. Her words still stung but he didn't blame her for them.

He returned to the headmaster's office only to sleep and eat. Usually waiting until the others had gone to bed before creeping back inside. The rest of the time he was absent, walking the halls, surveying the damage to the castle or sitting in an empty classroom while he studied inside his vault.

It was starting to get extremely cold outside and the snow wasn't relenting. Flakes drifted in through the broken windows and melted because of the atmospheric charms causing the floors to become damp.

After a few more isolated evenings he decided to head back to the office, sneaking through the doors and making sure he didn't step on any of the slumbering captives. He was also careful not to make too much noise when he went through the desk to find what he was looking for.

He went over to the balcony and sat down with his back against the wall, staring out at the shield. He could actually make out a few of the constellations above glittering even more brightly than the barrier.

About an hour passed before he heard someone stir behind him. A moment later Alex appeared with sleepy eyes and messy hair. She was about to speak when she suddenly looked startled at what was in his hand.

The bottle of expensive whiskey they'd found in Torrens safe. Her eyes darted back to the desk and she saw that the draw was open.

"How in the hell did you –"

"She's draining the magic out of the whole school, including the charm you used to lock this in the desk," Albus said quietly before offering the bottle to her.

She considered it for a second then accepted it, taking a swig and cringing slightly.

"That's pretty good," she admitted.

"Torrens has good taste," Albus agreed.

Alex quietly shuffled past and sat down next to him before passing the bottle back.

"Drinking with a student. I'm not much of a teacher, am I?" she smiled.

"Actually, I think that makes you one of the better ones."

They sat there silently for a second and soon the awkwardness started to rear its ugly head. He was about to speak to break the tension but she beat him to it.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry for what I did and for what I said."

Albus looked at her and saw real shame in her eyes. She was practically radiating guilt.

"Still got all my teeth, so not so bad," he shrugged. "Of course, if you ever got bored with wizarding duels, you could have a great career as a cage fighter."

"Albus, I mean it," she reached out and touched his hand. Her fingers seemed so warm on his skin that he dared not move. "I'm sorry and I hope you can forgive me."

There was a longing in her eyes. One that most people would try to hide but she was staring straight at him.

"I can't forgive you," he said causing her to look horrified so he continued quickly. "In order to forgive you, I'd have to actually blame you in the first place and I don't," he offered her the bottle with a smile.

She took a big gulp and shuddered but seemed relieved.

"I don't know why I said those things," she sighed.

"I do…and so does Nemesis. In fact, she was hoping you'd say them…she doesn't like you."

"Yeah, I kinda got that," she managed to smile.

"Take it as a compliment. She considers you a threat," he said taking back the bottle and swigging it.

"Me? How am I a threat to her?"

"Because she knows I trust you and that I listen to your opinions and those opinions are working as a sort of check against her influence," he explained.

She took a moment to process that. It was clear she hadn't realized that her presence was having that kind of effect.

"What does she want, Albus? I mean, what does she want from you?"

He took another swig of the whiskey, considering how to answer. "She wants someone that understands her. Someone that believes in her, that trusts her."

"I thought you said she didn't want friends?"

"Wizarding friends. She doesn't consider me a wizard," he said.

"But you are a wizard."

"Not to her. And I'm afraid her opinion is the one that matters at the moment," he said grimly.

"So…what does she think you are?"

"A companion…potentially. I think the thing she wants most, the thing she craves above all else is the one thing she can have."

"What?"

"An equal. Someone that can challenge her intellectually and understand her emotionally. She said that she met another woman that had found the source but didn't elaborate or go into detail. In fact, she changed the subject pretty quickly which makes me think that they are no longer on speaking terms. So, if the only other person in the world as powerful as she is won't speak to her, she trying to find someone that will."

"You think she wants to make you like her?" Alex asked looking concerned.

"No. If anything, she wants to remove what little magic I have and turn me into a squib."

"Why?"

"She resents her own power. She spent years looking for the source and finding it only caused her life to fall apart. I think she likes the fact that I have so little power myself because I'm the other end of the spectrum. Thinks I'm the thing that's missing from her life."

Alex seemed to dwell on those words and they troubled her.

"That's what she thinks you are…what do you think you are?"

"I don't know what I am. I know I don't belong in the wizarding world. In fact, today was supposed to be my last day in it," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"My original plan was to resign for Hogwarts today. But, I decided I'd see out my last year, not because I wanted the N.E.W.T.'s but because I wanted one last year with Scorp," he admitted and glanced over at his sleeping friend. "The idea that he won't be right next to me anymore…kinda scares me."

"Today…Albus…is it your birthday?" she asked looking shocked.

He held up the bottle in a mock toast. "Seventeen today. I'm official a man…according to the wizarding world."

"I think you've been a man for quite a while," she said softly.

Thanks to the whiskey he was able to keep his features neutral but inside he was swelling with pride at her words. "I think that's the nicest thing anyone had ever said to me," he said casually and handed her the bottle.

"Well, considering how much of a bitch I've been lately, I think you deserve a compliment or two just for putting up with me," said smiled.

"Duelling champion of the wizarding world or not, you're only human, Alex," he returned her smile. "Because of our emotions, humans are naturally subjective. No matter the situation, the first thing we think of is how it affects us, how it makes us feel. Sometimes those feels burst out."

"Seems to happen a lot less with you."

"I'm a scientist. I like to understand things, including my own emotions. Although, I'm not sure I'd recommend it. Sometimes you find some ugly truths underneath the flowery exterior."

"Is that a subtle dig at me?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, no, of course not," he said quickly. "What I meant was…err…look, up there. It's difficult to make out but that's Orion, right there," he pointed to the famous hunter in the sky.

"Yeah, I can see it," she nodded. "But, I should warn you that barely scrapped a pass in my Astrology exam.

"It's okay, this isn't a test," he smiled. "The brightest star on the Orion constellation is Rigel, the bottom right leg, and he's a blue-white supergiant. The general rule with stars is that the bigger they are, the shorter their life span. Now, Rigel is eight hundred and sixty-three lightyears away which means, the light we are seeing now, left that star bask in the twelfth century."

"It's beautiful," she breathed and suddenly Albus was aware that there was only about half a foot of space between them.

"It's dying."

She stopped looking at the star and stared at him in amazement.

"Rigel has burned through his supply of Hydrogen as in now consuming Helium causing the star to swell in size. It's about a hundred times bigger than it used to be and eventually, it'll go supernova an explode. But, it's eight hundred and sixty-three light years away so for all we know, it's already exploded…might have exploded this morning but we won't see that for almost nine centuries. To look at it, it's just a beautiful star in the sky but up there, it's chaos. That star is self-destructing and getting ready to cause devastation on a scale we can't imagine."

Albus gazed up at the star again, in awe of it.

"The things we feel are based on our perceptions, but, we very rarely see the whole picture so can we really trust our feelings?" he turned away from the star and looked into Alex' sapphire eyes. "I have to see the whole picture with Nemesis…I know that scares you…but, it's the only way."

She stared at him for a moment and Albus felt as if he was Rigel, burning brighter and hotter than ever before but ultimately killing himself in the processes.

She turned away, with was appeared to be, great effort.

"You're right…we can't trust our feelings," she whispered, almost sadly.

"Doesn't mean we should ignore them," he said. "Doesn't mean they're wrong."

And then, without thinking, he reached up and gently turned her head so that she was facing him again. They moved closer, and closer until he could feel the warmth of her skin on his. His lips brushed hers and still they moved closer until -

" _REACH OUT AND TOUCH FAITH_!"

They broke apart and Alex leapt to her feet, wand at the ready. Everyone else in the room bolted up from their sleep looking startled.

The noise was deafening. _Personal Jesus_ by _Marilyn Manson_ was playing at the highest volume possible across the entire school!

It was coming out of the walls and floors and everywhere!

"What the hell?!" Aiden yelled over the music.

"What is that?!" Rose screamed. It was so loud that they were covering their ears.

"Marilyn Manson," Melissa answered. "It's a cover of Depeche Mode."

"Why is she playing –"

The music suddenly cut off.

"Okay, what the hell is going –"

" _TALKING BOUT MY GENERATION_!"

The music started again but this time it was a different song.

"The Who?!" Melissa yelped looking truly confused.

"Oh…YOU BITCH!" Albus roared looking murderous.

"What?!" Alex demanded.

"She stole my fuckin' iPod!"

All thoughts of the intimate moment he'd shared with Alex and the kiss that was close vanished. Albus looked ready to don some Mad Max gear and go on a rampage.

The music cut off again.

"I rescued your iPod." Rose and Anya screamed and everyone jumped. Nemesis, this time projecting the same punk rocker from Slughorn's dream had just appeared inside the headmaster's office. "You should be thanking me. If it weren't for me, that thing would be under several feet of water."

"Gimmi' back my music!" he yelled.

"I'm just borrowing it, calm down," Nemesis grinned, clearly loving just how outraged Albus was.

"I spent a year and a half building that playlist! You know how hard it is to update an iPod in the wizarding world?! Give it back!"

"Ugh! Boys and their toys," Nemesis said rolling her eyes. The illusion suddenly transformed back into Professor McGonagall. "You can have it back at the end of the lesson if you behave."

If she weren't incorporeal, he would have punched her. Albus didn't fail to notice that she had timed her noise assault to interrupt his moment with Alex but the fact that she was now holding his iPod hostage was crossing the line. There were few other passions in his life that equalled his love of music and she was now using it as a pressure point.

"You'll pay for this!" Albus growled.

"Well, maybe if you'd come to see me like I'd asked instead of moping for the last few weeks, you'd find me more agreeable, but, you didn't so I'll content myself with the company of your music instead. You made your bed, now lie in it…lesson number three!"

"You just made it personal!"

"Oh, good, then we're finally getting somewhere. Sweet dreams, oh and you might wanna bundle up…it's getting a bit chilly out there," she smiled and vanished.

Albus was so frustrated after that that no one dared speak to him. After pacing the room and repeatedly kicking several objects, he eventually took comfort in the bottle of whiskey he'd liberated from the desk and refused to share it with anyone.

Eventually, he fell asleep, or rather passed out considering how many times he'd fallen over after finishing the bottle and trying to get to his bed. Never the less, his mind swam with thoughts as he drifted off.

It seemed as if the honeymoon between him and Nemesis was over.

At the same time, it was pretty clear to everyone else that he was ready to spend consecutive days in the pensieve if it meant getting his iPod back. He had no doubt that Nemesis was punishing him for both his lack of attention towards her and because of the progression of his relationship with Alex.

She had all but confessed that she had feelings for him. Feelings that mirrored his own, but she'd also displayed the exact behaviour that Nemesis said she would. She was afraid of what the world would think of her if she and Albus were more than just friends.

In his drunken rage about losing his beloved playlist, everyone had actively avoided Albus, but Alex seemed to be doing it for another reason. He saw doubt in her eyes and guilt. She believed that she had done something wrong by not stopping herself. He had seen the same look in his own eyes many times while looking in the mirror. The endless battle with his own feelings and desires.

He wanted to leave the wizarding world but the idea of leaving Scorpius was horrible. They had been best friends since the beginning. They had gone through hell together and their friendship had empowered them both in ways they didn't think possible.

Now Alex was wrestling with her own feelings. Did she want to be with Albus, or was the potential cost simply too great?

It was the thick aroma of caffeine and sugar drifting up his nostrils that woke him the next morning. Scorpius, the saint, had made him and incredibly strong cup of coffee and left it smouldering next to him. The pounding of his head and the memory of the iPod theft immediately put him in a bad mood and he saw he was the last person to wake up.

He never usually slept that long but the whiskey had completely floored him.

Albus knew that he was going to have to go and see Nemesis. He would have to talk to her and endure her amusement as he tried to keep him temper under control, but there was nothing else for it. He wanted his iPod back, he wanted out of that castle and he didn't want to get stabbed again, all of which might be possible if he were nice to her.

He looked around, trying to spot Alex but she wasn't there. Neither was Anya.

It was likely that Alex had volunteered to by Anya's escort to the bathroom.

That was another conversation he was dreading, mainly because he knew was Alex was probably going to say. But, like Nemesis, he needed to talk to her, no matter how painful it was going to be.

"How's you head?" Melissa asked with a smirk. He knew she was enjoying being the one that wasn't hungover this time. Dom seemed equally pleased.

"Don't suppose there's a potion for hangovers?"

"There's a spell. Same one they use on people that have been Stupified, but we all agreed not to do it on you because you refused to share the whiskey," she said happily.

"You're a monster," Albus groaned and sipped his coffee.

"So are you. Having the Marilyn Manson cover instead of the Depeche mode original," she said critically.

"I do have the Depeche Mode original! And the Johnny Cash cover, I don't know why she picked that one."

"Probably to piss us off," Dom mumbled.

The door of the headmaster's office burst open and Anya was there looking very worried.

"You need to see this!" she said and darted straight back out.

Everyone followed her down the corridor and into the staff bathroom where Alex was waiting inside. She was crouched under one of the sinks with her wand in hand.

"None of the taps were working when we got here," Anya said. "Look."

Right in front of where Alex was looking were the pipes that connected to the sinks. They were frozen solid.

"She told us to _'bundle up'_ last night. Should have known there was a reason behind it," Alex hissed.

"The atmospheric charms are starting to fail," Rose gasped.

"They're not failing, she's eating them," Scorpius corrected looking worried.

"Okay…I have some bad news and some really bad news," Albus said. They all looked to him for the dreaded explanation. "The bad news is that this castle was built before the word _'insulation'_ even existed and the really bad news is that January is the coldest month of the year and we are less than two hundred miles from the Arctic circle. When the temperature drops, this school will become an ice box."

A frightened silence wept the bathroom.

"We've got to get out of here or we're gonna freeze to death."


	24. The Man With A Plan

**MAY 2** **nd** **1998 – Hogwarts**

The battle raged. Giants and death eaters stormed the grounds. Explosions shook the air and half the castle was on fire. But none of that mattered.

The Squib wouldn't let anything distract him.

Through the sights of his fifty-calibre sniper rifle, he saw the grey skinned figure pacing through the windows of the boat house. But, there was someone else with him besides the dirty great snake.

"Get out of the bloody way, Severus, or I'll shoot through you," he muttered to himself.

He had picked a bad angle. It seemed good at the time, after Voldemort's little announcement had rattled the entire area but now, with Snape blocking his line of sight, it had become poor. But, there was nowhere else to go.

If he moved to the right or got closer, there was a chance that the fighters would see him or the werewolves and dementors would smell him. He needed to stay hidden. He would only get one shot at Voldemort and he couldn't afford to waste it. Only from a distance could he be sure his attack would work. He wouldn't be able to raise a shield or turn the bullet into dust if he didn't know it was coming.

He locked the dark lord's head in his crosshairs but every time he had him, he moved and was blocked by Snape. It was maddening. He had a chance to end it, right then and there. To stop his assault on innocent people but missing would only make things worse. The bullet would lose altitude and drift slightly to the left because of gravity and the wind. And from seven hundred yards away, it would be almost a full second from firing to impact.

He needed him to stay still.

Something else caught his eye. Three small shapes were moving towards the boathouse. They were three sets of feet. Moving without legs or bodies attached.

 _The cloak!_ Potter's invisibility cloak that he heard about from one of the death eaters he'd interrogated. Was he really going to make his move there? Try and take on Voldemort and Snape at the same time?

If he was, then he was an idiot. There was no way he could fight both of them at the same time, even if he had help. The Squib correctly assumed that the other feet belonged to Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

He watched them for a few seconds, waiting for a clear shot. Then something very unexpected happened. That huge snake of his that seemed to be floating in mid-air lunged and attacked Snape. It bit him repeatedly in what looked like the jugular.

"What the – these death eaters have one hell of a retirement plan," the Squib said in confusion.

Voldemort and the Snake vanished. They had left the boat house and Snape to his fate. He saw Harry pull off the cloak and rush inside followed by his friends.

"Shit!" he growled.

He was gone! And there was no telling where he might pop up next. He had missed his chance and he wouldn't be getting another one. Not tonight.

Anger and frustration flowed through him but there was nothing to be done. He clicked the safety on his rifle and left.

It was up to them now. Hogwarts, Potter and the rest.

 **DAY 32**

"Apologise to her! Beg her! Kiss her if you have to!" Anya demanded.

They were all still in the bathroom, looking at the frozen plumbing.

"She's disembodied. How you supposed to kiss someone when their lips don't exist?" Melissa said spelling out the obvious.

"I don't care! Do something!"

"This isn't because of me," Albus said. "She's been feeding on the school since she got here. The atmospheric charms were always going to fail."

"Well…we can make our own, I know the spell," Rose said.

"It won't work, she'll just drain those too. Same with any fire we create magically," Albus said rubbing his throbbing temples.

"Then how about non-magically? The headmaster's office has a fireplace," Aiden offered.

"She won't let us do that."

"Why not?!"

"So, we can't burn the school down!" he yelled. "She knows we'll consider it if we think we have no other choice."

"Then what do we do?!" Anya cried.

Albus looked around at their scared faces. If they couldn't use magic then they would have to combat the cold the same way that the muggles did.

Maybe that was the point? Nemesis was forcing them to try and survive the same way the muggles did. She wanted to see if they could manage without magic.

"We need to get as many pillows, blankets, sheets and mattresses as possible. We're gonna stick them to walls and the roof of the headmaster's office and contain as much heat as we can. Start doubling and tripling up on clothes, the thicker, the better," Albus ordered. "The water from the lake has flooded the lower levels and that's where all the pipes go. That's why they're frozen. The lake only gets to about five degrees in the middle of the summer and we're in the dead of winter."

"I thought she didn't want to kill you?" Alex reminded.

"This isn't about killing us, it's about seeing how badly we want to live," he said.

"Like Rigel, Hogwarts is running on fumes," Alex said grimly. "She's almost done here."

"And this is what, one last challenge before she moves on?" Scorpius asked.

"More like one last middle finger before she leaves the castle a shell of what it once was," Albus said.

"Some of the enchantments used to create this castle are hundreds of years old, they date back all the way to the founding four. The knowledge of how they were made had been lost," Rose said, shaking with fear. "It's not like repairing the damage that Voldemort did…if the magic disappears, they'll never be able to recreate it. Hogwarts will never recover."

"That's her plan," Albus said. "She intends to kill the school…permanently."

"We have to stop this!" Rose cried.

"We can't."

"All we can do is survive," Scorpius said putting his hand on her shoulder and drawing a nasty look from Aiden.

It seemed to finally hit them all that these were the last days of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.

"Alright, we need to split into two groups. One for Ravenclaw tower, one Gryffindor. Bring everything you can," Alex commanded. She was clearly trying to distract them from their despair as much as keep them alive and Albus silently commended her for it.

They divided up and began raiding the dorms of each tower. They tried levitating the stuff back to the headmaster's office but the charms kept failing. Nemesis drain was getting stronger and stronger and now affecting the spells that they produced much more quickly.

They ended up having to make several trips in order to haul the stuff back by hand. That presented another problem since sticking charms wouldn't keep the mattresses attached to the walls. So, they had to improvise, using broken bits of wood, tape and potion supplies to keep them in place. The roof was even more difficult but thanks to the muggle backpacking gear in Filches office they were able to string the blankets and pillows up using climbing ropes.

"Don't worry about covering up the portraits, I'm sure they won't complain," Melissa said as she pushed a mattress against the wall, obscuring Everard's empty frame.

After a few hours, the office looked like a very poorly conceived isolation room in a metal hospital. Albus was sure that some very young children would have loved the idea of mattress-padded walls but to him, it just looked stupid.

In the month they'd been there, they'd truly made quite a mess of Torrens office.

His theory about fire was proven right when he tried to use one of the flares he'd found in the backpacking gear to light a fire. It was snuffed out instantly by Nemesis' unseen hand.

Because of that, they were all now wearing at least two set of clothes. Rose, Dom, Melissa and Aiden had decided to simply wear their school uniforms over their normal cloths but Albus, Scorpius and Anya's uniforms were floating about somewhere in the dungeons. They were forced to don random scarfs and jackets that they found in the staffroom. Alex simply put on a thicker coat from her room.

"Oh, right, you're Swedish. You're used to the cold," Dom said.

"We have hot summers too," she shrugged.

Even though the sun was still up, the snow was falling outside and their breath was starting to show in the air. The water in the dungeon had developed a layer of ice on top and they were all starting to feel the chill. It was amazing how toasty the atmospheric charms kept them when they were working and Albus half-though that he should have appreciated them a bit more in the past.

The concerns and awkwardness between the captives was gone and they could only focus on staying alive now. For that reason, they huddled together, much more closely than they would have ever done in normal times.

"So, how's that plan coming?" Scorpius asked while rubbing his hands together.

"Keep your voice down," Albus hissed.

"What plan?" Dom asked, looking confused.

Albus sighed. He wished he had more time. "Alright, before any of you start yelling at me, I had to wait until now to tell you this…I know how to get us out."

"What?!" Several of them said at the same time.

"Shhh!"

"You can get us out?!" Aiden whispered.

"Don't get too excited, you're not gonna like it."

"How?"

"It was never about _us_ getting out of the school…it's about getting _her_ out of the school, and, I think I know how to do that," he said. "I had to wait until now because I needed a legitimate reason to cover up the portraits."

"The portraits?" Rose asked looked around at the mattresses that now blocked them from view.

"She's using them to listen to us. I originally thought she got rid of them because they knew something about her, but when I woke up after her initial assault, I realized that simply wanted to use them herself. She caused major damage to the place when she took over and yet, every single portrait is intact. Not a hint of damage. And when I went to get Dom and Melissa, she temporarily lost track on me when I ducked into the astronomy tower," he said.

"There's no portraits in the astronomy tower," Dom realized.

"That's why you sent us off in a different direction!" Melissa said catching on too. "You rushed off where you knew the portraits would see you!"

"I needed to test my theory. And she followed me which led to our first meeting," he confessed. "I knew then, that she could control magic in a way no one had ever seen and I needed to understand how. I needed to understand her if I was ever going to find a way to beat her."

"That's why you've been keeping so much from us…because you knew she was listening through the portraits?" Rose gasped, amazed at his foresight.

"They're her eyes and ears all over the school. There are very few places in this castle that don't have either portraits or statues or armour and she's been using all of them. That's how she knew exactly what you said about being _'malicious and hostile'_ ," he said to Alex who looked stunned.

None of them could believe it. Albus had been working on a plan to stop Nemesis the entire time. Ever since it began, he'd been looking for clues and prying information out of her in order to get them all safely out of the school.

"I knew the atmospheric charms would fail eventually and if I covered the portraits before she'd know I was up to something."

"You've known the whole time?!" Anya hissed.

"Yes! And it was important that you lot stayed ignorant of that fact! My mind is guarded, she can't read my thoughts, but I couldn't be sure about the rest of you."

"Fine, but how do we get out?"

"I told you. The only way we're getting out is if we get her out first. Now, she's said repeatedly that no one is leaving until she does and she's not leaving until she's finished draining the school. She's channelling her own power and the power she's taking from the castle to power that shield but as with most things she says there's a double meaning."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"She's a disembodied soul. Soul's need a vessel, whether it's a fragment being hidden in an object to become a Horcrux or a natural, complete soul wrapped in flesh and bone, they have to have something, an anchor, that keeps them in this world. When the body dies, the soul leaves and goes somewhere else, but while the body is alive, the soul stays here, in this world. The school _is_ her anchor! It's not that she won't leave until she's finished draining the school, it's that she can't!"

"Wait…you're saying she's trapped here too?" Dom asked looking confused.

"Yes! Until she has enough power to travel somewhere else, she can't leave. So, if we kick her out before she's ready, then…theoretically…she'll be pulled back to where she came from."

"The cage! The prison that was holding her!" Scorpius said remembering to keep his voice low. "She hasn't fully escaped yet!"

"Azkaban, nor any other conventional prison could never hold her. They're built for mortals and she's an immortal soul. Bars and bricks and binding spells mean nothing to her so the cage that contained her must be something else entirely. I think she's still tied to that cage and it's trying to drag her back but as long as she has her claws dug into this castle, she's not going anywhere. She said escaping from the cage weakened her. I think it weakened her because it's still has a hold on her, so she needs massive amounts of power if she's going to move again without succumbing to the link."

"But, what if your wrong?" Alex asked. "I'm not saying you are, but what if we somehow manage to push her out and she doesn't go back to the cage, she ends up somewhere else? Another magical school?"

"Your right and I can't promise that won't happen because, like I said, this is just a theory. But, it's all I've got at the moment," he admitted.

"And how exactly would we get push her out?" asked Aiden.

"We destroy the thing that's keeping her here."

"And what's that?"

"The room of requirement."

"What?!" a second wave of shrieks filled the air and Albus had to shush them all again.

"Rose, you've been complaining since the start of term that you weren't able to access the room. It's not because anyone else was using it, it's because she's been in there right from the start. The room is whatever you need it to be and she needs it to be her anchor, so it is," Albus explained.

"How do you know she's in there?" Dom questioned.

"Because it's the only room that could do it and it's the last place anyone could check. That why the ministry officials never found anything when they were looking over the entire castle. It's completely obscured unless you ask for the exact thing it's currently being used for and it doesn't show up on the Marauders map…not that it matters, she's been controlling the map ever since she knew we had it. That's why Ben showed up on it."

"She can control the map?" Rose said going pale.

"She can control any magic inside the school if she's had enough time to study it. That's why she waited so long before showing herself. She's been here since before term started but she needed time to know how all the school's enchantments functioned. What better place to learn than the room of requirement? And if you need more proof than that, I've also been measuring the parameter of the shield and guess what is at the dead centre?"

"The room of requirement," Alex nodded remembering his ability to judge distances and angles with incredible accuracy just by looking at them.

"That's why the shield doesn't cover the entire castle because the room isn't at the centre of the school. It's in this building, a hundred and seven feet from where we're standing. She only needed to extend the shield far enough to get the bulk of the school's magic."

"But, the room of requirement is one of the most mysterious parts of Hogwarts. Nobody actually knows who created it or how," Rose reminded, "so how are we supposed to destroy it?"

"Professor Bonde was kind enough to cover that in her first lesson," Albus smirked.

"Elemental conflict!" Scorpius gasped.

"Told you he was paying attention," Albus winked at Alex. "You lot are going to pump that room with so many enchantments and spells that it becomes unstable and ultimately, goes boom."

"But, Albus," Aiden interrupted. "If she can drain magic, won't she just absorb any spells we put into that room?"

"Ah, intelligent input, I knew you had potential, Aiden," he said putting him on the head like a good doggie. "She's not draining the portraits because she can't use them to spy on us if they're dead. She's not draining the room because it can't keep her there if it's powerless. She needs the room to keep working exactly the way it is, so if we destroy it, she loses her anchor."

"Even if she can't just absorb the spells we put into that room, the second she realizes what we are doing, she'll throw everything she's got at us," Alex warned.

"Then you'll finally get the fight you've been itching for," he said.

"I'm not joking, Albus!"

"Neither am I. They will spell the room and you will keep them safe while they do it. That's your job in this," he said looking into her eyes. "And I'm going to buy you some time."

"How?"

"Because I'll be keeping her distracted," he said looking away.

Most of them looked befuddled at his words but Scorpius and Alex knew exactly what he meant.

"You're going in there…" Scorpius breathed.

"No! Out of the question!" Alex stated.

"I can keep her attention on me long enough for you guys to get into position and start working those spells," he said.

"Albus, if this crazy plan actually works, that room is going to explode and you'll be inside it when it does!"

"I'll get out before that happens," he said without any conviction.

"Unless she doesn't let you leave! She's immortal, this won't kill her but it will kill you!"

"There's no other way," he said calmly.

"I'll go inside the room," Scorpius volunteered.

"She won't let you in," Albus sighed. "You're not the one she wants to talk to. It has to be me."

"Albus, don't do this. We'll find another way." To his surprise it was Anya saying that. The idea that he might die was really frightening her.

Well, on the bright side, at least they'd all bonded during this crisis.

"There is no other way. Unless you want to spend the next few days trying not to die of hypothermia while she turns the castle into a carcass and then moves off and does it to the next school. It's the only plan I've got. I _did_ warn you that you wouldn't like it," Albus said. He forced himself not to look at Alex.

"It's suicide!" Aiden stated.

"It's a calculated risk. One way or another, I'm going into the room of requirement and I would suggest that you guys take advantage of what little time I can hold her attention!"

"You're going in there, no matter what we say?" Alex asked looking angry.

"Obviously…she's got my iPod!"


	25. The Sorting Deception

**DAY 32**

Looking up at the covered portraits in the headmaster's office, they were all still keeping their voices down.

"You've seen what she can do with illusions," Albus said, address all of them. "Chances are, she'll try to use them against you. You might see your parents or people from the ministry saying that they got through the shield or more likely, you'll see me, telling you to stop the assault on the room. Don't believe it!"

They were going to do it. Albus' crazy plan to get Nemesis, and by extension, themselves out of the school was going forward despite the many protests. Albus was the only one of them that seemed confident that he wasn't going to die. The others were all looking at him like he had just been diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Confronting Nemesis inside the room of requirement and trying to keep her distracted while the others worked to blow up that very room wasn't exactly an ideal plan but he was pretty sure that it was going to work.

"Wait five minutes after I leave. Avoid the portraits and statues and you should be able to get close without her knowing. Do not try to come inside," he said looking at Scorpius.

"Just make sure you get out once it starts to become unstable," he said.

"I will."

"And what if she won't let you leave?" Alex asked, still angry about Albus's decision.

"She will," he said simply.

"How do you know?"

"Because she doesn't want me dead," he said.

"That could change when she realizes what we're doing," Dom warned.

"You guys are going to be the ones in danger then, so don't waste your time worrying about me. Focus on the spells and protect each other," Albus said sternly.

"Of course, I'm going to worry about you, you're my cousin!"

"Worry about your girlfriend," he smiled, "and her hair."

Melissa and Dom didn't seem to find that funny.

Albus was resolutely refusing to make a speech or say goodbye in some way. He was still trying to put on the air of someone that was supremely confidant in his plan but it wasn't easy to hide his fear. He knew what was about to happen.

"Right, see ya in a bit," he shrugged and headed for the door.

"Albus," Alex said walking after him.

The two of them moved through the headmaster's door and let it close behind them. They were alone in the corridor and far enough away from the nearest uncovered portraits not to be heard.

"I'll be fine," he said seeing the concern in her eyes.

"You can say that a million times, I'm not gonna believe it until you are," she said.

"Just promise that you'll keep the others safe."

"I'll do everything that I can but if something goes wrong – "

"I'll think of something."

"Locked in a room with her? Your options are gonna be kind of limited!"

"Are we really not gonna talk about last night?" he said deciding to just go for it.

She was momentarily stunned and couldn't respond. Once again, he'd caught her off guard and seeing the look in her eyes, he knew some part of her had been hoping to avoid this conversation.

"Are we just going to blame it on the whiskey?" he asked.

"No," she said after a moments pause, "we'll blame it on my poor judgement."

"I'm not exactly blameless," he reminded.

"You're a student, I'm a teacher… _that_ cannot happen between us." She made it sound like an official statement from the ministry but he could hear her voice shaking slightly.

"Once we're out, I'm never coming back to this school," he said. "I don't think you are either."

"That's not the point! This…this is…wrong!"

"Feels pretty right to me," he whispered.

He saw her tense up at those words. She pressed her lips together and blinked quickly, trying to supress tears.

This was it.

She was the moment Nemesis had warned him about. The moment he confessed and moment she would break his heart.

"You know how I feel about you and I know you feel something for me," he said bracing himself. "But, it's your decision. So, tell me, right now…yes or no."

Silence fell for a second and the she blinked and looked away.

"No."

It was strange. He didn't feel a sudden sense of falling or a sensation like being punched in the guts. He was expecting pain of some kind but it didn't come. Instead his mind shot back to the day the sorting hat had been placed on his head and yelled 'Slytherin'. It was that cold, lonely walk from the front of the great hall over to the house table with all eyes on him that had been the hardest part. By then the fear had faded and the shock had set in, numbing his whole body.

He was pretty sure that he was just as pale white as that day. The pain he'd been expected would hit later.

"I'm sorry," she breathed, unable to look him in the eye.

He barely heard her. He was pushing it all down. Locking this moment away in a dark corner of his vault, making it as difficult to access as possible. It was only a temporary measure and he knew he would have to face it properly at some point, but, at that moment, he had to focus on Nemesis.

"Look after the others. We won't get another chance at this," he said before walking away.

"Albus!" she cried. The tears were escaping her eyes and she couldn't hide the sadness in her voice.

She wasn't a cruel person, she didn't want to hurt him and maybe if circumstances were different, her answer would have been different, but, she had made her decision and he would respect it.

"She's going to kill you!"

"No, she won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because, I'm the only friend she's got," he said and walked away.

Some people believed that happy endings appeared in stories so often because they appeared so rarely in the real world. Some times things worked out and sometimes they didn't. The best one could hope for was to set enough things in motion to increase the odds of a favourable outcome, but, even then, chance and random occurrence can still completely destroy even the best laid plans.

He had come up with a plan for Nemesis but not for Alex. In some strange way, he was glad he still had her. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Nemesis had given him a sense of purpose.

It didn't take long for him to reach the empty stretch of corridor that was home to the room of requirement, provided that she hadn't some how moved it. He stood directly in front of the wall, not even trying to think of what shape the room might have taken.

"I want my iPod back!" he yelled. "And…we need to talk…you were right."

The sound of scrapping gravel echoed through the corridor and pair of huge wooden double doors seemed to melt their way right through the stone. After a second or two, they were fully formed and standing there like they had always been part of the castle.

The doors began to crack open and an immense, pure white light filled the corridor. It was like looking at the sun except it wasn't burning his eyes.

The light enveloped him and he stepped forward into the room of requirement.

He was in a blank room, so spotless and white, he couldn't actually see walls or surfaces anywhere. Looking down, he wasn't even casting a shadow on the floor as the light seemed to be coming from every possible direction.

He looked around and suddenly, where there had been nothing a second ago, now sat an armchair. It was one of Slughorn's armchairs from his office. Then there was a second, both moth eaten and old but looked very comfortable. The two chairs were directly opposite each other.

He slowly sat down in the nearest one. Then there was a small wooden stool. It was nothing special except for the fact that his iPod was sitting on it.

He wanted to reach out and take it right then and there but paused. It could be a trick.

He waited but nothing happened. No illusions appeared or voices from the walls until a small black spot arrived on the floor. It grew wider and rippled slightly, as if were made of oil or tar. From the black puddle, a head slowly emerged, followed by a neck, then shoulders and arms until the oil had formed a woman. Her black skin rippled and flowed but kept the human features exactly in place.

This was the same body he'd seen in the steam and curtains. And of course, she was naked.

"Interesting look," Albus commented.

"This room can do a lot of things but give me flesh and blood isn't one of them," Nemesis said, walking over and taking the second seat. Her feet didn't leave prints on the floor and her oil-like skin didn't stain the chair when she sat down.

It was a close to her original form as she could get and once again it was perfect. Too perfect. Inhumanly beautiful, the way people imagined gods or angels to look.

"So," she said crossing her legs in a very business-like way. "You found me."

"You weren't that hard to find," he said, looking into the dark orbs that made up her eyes. Her long-waist length hair swells and curled like a black tide.

"She hurt you, didn't she?"

"You gonna say 'I told you so'?"

"Don't think I need to," Nemesis said. "I've become quite the expert on what fear does to people."

"She's afraid of what people will think of her," Albus admitted.

"And she's afraid of you," she nodded. "Your mind is more powerful than her magic. It's intimidating. I can't wait to see how Hermione reacts when she realizes that you're smarter than her."

"Hermione has years of experience that I don't."

"True, but you have something that she doesn't. You're different."

"That's a very broad term."

"Hermione sees the world as text. She reads through it, line by line, paragraph by paragraph until she finds a solution to whatever problem she's facing. You already know the solution and yet, the problem still fascinates you. Even after you've solved it, you still want to study it because then, maybe you'll understand why they happen in the first place," she said.

"Are we talking about problems or people?"

"Aren't they one in the same?"

"More often than not," he was forced to agree.

"This school is proof of that," she said looking around the white room. "When a new student arrives here, what's the first thing that happens?"

"They're sorted."

"They're segregated. Shoved off into their own little ward. Told that they are different from the other people here. Ravenclaws are smart, Gryffindors are brave, Hufflepuffs are loyal and the Slytherins are oh so wicked. Do you think it's right to tell an eleven-year-old child where they belong just by placing a magical hat on their heads? And to think that they can't change? That a brave Gryffindor can't suffer a trauma that makes them afraid of their own shadow? That a loyal Hufflepuff can be betrayed and forever more have trust issues?"

"I think they should be allowed to decide for themselves."

"I would agree. But, instead, they stick that thing on their heads," she pointed to where the sorting hat was now hovering in mid-air. It had been missing from the headmaster's office since Nemesis had taken control and now he knew where it was being kept. "That thing that was made over a thousand years ago when everyone still thought that the sun went around the earth and yet it is in charge of an enormous part of a child's life."

"The sorting hat takes a person's choice into account," Albus reminded.

"And how many eleven-year-olds know exactly where they want to spend the next six years of their lives? How many of them can be expected to make an unpressured decision when they are sitting in front of the entire student body?"

"When they can't, the hat chooses for them. And choice is based on what it views inside the child's mind."

"And what was going through your father's mind when he was sorted? Was he begging to be sorted into Gryffindor, or was he begging _not_ to be sorted into Slytherin?"

Albus looked away. He couldn't argue with her point. His father had been willing the hat not to place him in Slytherin simply because of the bad things he'd heard about the house and his experience on the train with Draco Malfoy.

"His choice was effected by reputation and the opinions of others. Why were you sorted into Slytherin, Albus? What effected your choice?" she asked.

"The alphabet," he said.

She cocked her head, waiting for an explanation.

"M comes before P."

"On the train, you met Scorpius. The only person who knew exactly how it felt to be born with a legacy they never wanted and when he went into Slytherin, you followed. You've been an outcast ever since…and yet, to do that…so see him for the person he really was, instead of the person the wizarding world said he was…well, that took the intelligence of a Ravenclaw. To follow him in took the loyalty of a Hufflepuff and to do it all knowing that you'd never be accepted took the courage of a Gryffindor. You don't fit into one single house, Albus, you match all of them and that's why you don't belong in any of them."

He had never thought of it like that. But then he tried to avoid thinking about his sorting whenever possible.

"You think it's weak to try and belong?"

"I think it's stupid to try and belong to the wizarding world. A world that has become so toxic with prejudice and intolerance that even when something threatens its entirety, it still can't put aside it's petty differences."

"People are trying to change that," he said.

"The wizarding world won't change. It's had plenty of opportunities. That which cannot change, cannot stay," she said simply.

"You mean the pureblood lines?"

"I mean in terms of nature. When something can't evolve, it goes extinct."

"The world – "

"Belongs to the muggles."

"If you expose the wizarding world – "

"I said I would do that eventually, first, I'll bring it down a notch."

"A notch?"

"All notches."

Horror dawned over Albus's face. "They'll be a war!"

"Wars require two sides. I said I'd expose the wizarding world, I didn't say there would be any wizards left to fight."

"You're not going to stop with this school, you're not going to stop with this country! You don't want to rule the wizarding world, you want to end it!"

"It had its chance."

"You're talking about genocide!"

"A necessary evil. Don't worry, the wizarding world, like a phoenix, will rise from the ashes, but first…it has to burn!"

It was worse than he thought. She had been completely consumed by her need for vengeance. And worse, she now believed that wiping out the wizarding world was the right thing to do. "You can't do this!"

"Don't defend them, Albus. You hate this world and it hates you because it can't see you for what you are. You don't belong in the wizarding world…because you're more than the wizarding world."

"I'm not more than anything or anyone."

"No, of course not, you're just a man with unparalleled control over his own mind and whose survived in a culture that despises him despite having almost no magical abilities," she snorted sarcastically.

"My dad wasn't a match for Voldemort but he still beat him."

"He had a lot of help and besides, Voldemort was a moron," she brushed off.

"Unlike you?" he said it before he could stop himself.

"What did I say about comparing me to him?!" she hissed. "You think I'm like him?! A power-hungry coward that couldn't face mortality! You think I'd need a Basilisk to do my bidding?!" a dark green orb of liquid formed above her hand and suddenly shot towards Albus, striking his skin and melting beneath it. He felt it take hold immediately.

She had just injected him with Basilisk venom! He could feel it, burning inside his veins.

"You think I'd be undone by a phoenix?!"

A second orb appeared in her palm but this one was full of clear liquid, like sea water. It surged forward, hitting him in the same spot as the venom and sinking into his skin.

Phoenix tears! He was cured.

"You think I need Horcruxes or Deathly Hallows?!" she roared as a small black stone appeared in her oily palm. The resurrection stone?! She had found it in the forest. And with one deft move, she crushed it into dust with her hand.

"You think a ridiculous hat decides my future?!" the sorting hat disintegrated right in front of him leave nothing but a pile of ash. "You think a goblin forged sword could harm me?!"

The sword of Gryffindor appeared, floating exactly where the hat had been only seconds before. The ruby incrusted blade was only there for a moment though because she reached out a touched it with her finger. The blade melted, turning into molten metal that fell in a puddle on the ground. Even the gems cracked and turned into nothing but red dust.

In just a few minutes, she had destroyed everything that had been so vital to his father's struggle. He could only assume that the reason she didn't have the Elder Wand was because Dumbledore's tomb was further way from the school than the resurrection stone had been otherwise it would probably be lying in splinters by now.

"I am nothing like him!"

The room shuddered with her anger.

"Well, you have one thing in common," Albus said, preparing himself. "This school is where you lose."

She jumped up from her chair, her oily form pulsating with rage. The white surroundings vanished and the walls became transparent. Outside the room, Scorpius, Rose, Aiden, Anya, Dom and Melissa were chanting spells with their wands pointed at them. They couldn't see inside, but where working furiously while Alex paced beside them, ready for the inevitable attack.

"Clever boy," she growled.

"My birthday was yesterday. I'm a man now."

"A dead man!" she surged forward, clamping her hand around his neck and hoisting him up. She slammed him against the wall and thundering bangs echoed around the castle. Except they weren't explosions. They were footsteps.

The statues were coming.

They were breaking away from they foundations and marching, like a regiment towards the group on the outside of the doors. The clanging of armour followed and soon and entire army of stone and metal soldiers were surrounding the room of requirement.

Spell fire erupted around the corridor as Alex send curses flying towards them. She blasted them to dust with Reducto curses but they just kept coming. They swung at her with axes and swords but she was way too fast for their heavy lumbering moves. She dodged their strikes and continued to fire.

The statues were approaching from the other end of the corridor as well. They were trying to get close enough to the others working the enchantments to kill them before they could destabilize the room.

Anya screamed as an axe strike barely missed her head. She ducked and crawled away as Alex suddenly bolted past her. Alex jumped through the air looking like she was trying to kick the statue in the chest but inside used it as a platform. She backflipped straight off it and fired off another curse while upside down in mid-air that hit the statue behind her, reducing it to dust.

She was everywhere, taking on ever statue and suit of armour in Hogwarts at the same time. Her speed and cat-like acrobatics made her impossible to hit but the army of statues seemed endless. The corridor was filling up with broken stone and smashed metal but the oncoming attacks just marched straight past it.

A fast rumbling shook the corridor as the gargoyles that guarded the staffroom came charging down the hall. Not hesitating for a second, Alex ran at them, skidding along the floor as one leapt for her. Light shot from the end of her wand like a golden lasso and wrapped itself around one of the gargoyles. With a great heave, she sent it flying straight into the oncoming statues on the other side of the room of requirement, smashing them to pieces.

Albus watched though the walls of the room and couldn't help be awed by her skill. She really was the best in the world.

"Call them off!" Nemesis demanded.

"You tipped your hand when you showed us the illusions. They know they can't trust anything that comes out of this room!"

A blue surge of energy shot through the room like lightning. It was working! Elemental conflict was occurring. Small parts of the walls and ceiling seemed to be burning away, as if they were being scorched from within.

"I'm not the one that's about to die, Albus!" she growled.

"I knew I wasn't getting out of this room!" he croaked back, her hand still around his throat. "I've always known!"

More lightning shot through the room and scorching continued to spread.

"It was never going to be an accident or age or illness. I always knew, someday, magic would kill me!"

The lightning surges spread to the outside of the room, striking the corridor walls and destroying several of the attacking statues. The others rushed to get clear.

The room of requirement was imploding.

Nemesis looked around the room. She could see the damage spreading and consuming all of it like a virus. She turned and looked Albus in the eye.

"Until that day!"

She flung Albus with such force that he flew the entire length of the room and slammed straight through the doors, colliding with the corridor outside. The doors slammed shut right in front of him as the room started being crushed and compacted. Lightning shot out all over the place as the brick and wood were pulled into some kind of vortex at the centre. It all disappeared inside a pin-prick of light that vanished with one last burst of sparks.

Where the room once lived, now there was just a gaping hole in the walls. The floor below was exposed and dust was falling into it from the severed stonework. All around them, the statues froze or fell, completely lifeless. The corridor went silent for a second before a low hum echoed across the castle grounds.

The shield was disappearing.

Scorpius picked himself up from the rubble and looked around with the other shaken captives doing the same behind him. He spotted Albus's crumpled body across from the hole.

"Albus!" he yelled.

Alex gasped in horror as she saw him. "Albus! Albus, are you alright?!"

Then with one small movement of his arm, he held up his hand. It was holding his iPod.

"Got it…" he groaned.


	26. The Next One

**JULY 14** **th** **1998 – London**

"Books?" the defence minister asked with a raised eyebrow. He was a squat man, but always impeccably dressed in a custom pinstriped suit. He fiddled with a pair of glasses that he only ever used if his eyes got sore from too much reading.

"Yes, sir," the Squib said. He had also donned a suit for the meet. When speaking to a member of the cabinet office, certain etiquettes had to be obeyed.

"And these…" he glanced at the file the Squib had provided again, " _death eaters_ , were guarding these books?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, no offense, captain, but you seem to be telling me that you missed you chance to kill a murderous megalomaniacal wizard in order to capture his reading list," he said, not pleased.

"As I explained in my report, sir, even if I'd been able to take the shot, it wouldn't have mattered. He had created several –"

"Oh, yes, these _Horcrickets_ or something. Are you telling me the wizarding world has irrefutable proof that the human soul exists?"

"It's a bit difficult to call it 'irrefutable' when the only way to really see it is if it's being carved up during a murder or sucked out by a dementor, sir," the Squib admitted.

"Yes, I suppose. But you said you had important information about them. After the damage and the loss of life this year, the PM is furious. He wants answers and he's not willing to wait until a silly little talking painting on his wall gives them to him."

"Sir, as I was saying about the books I recovered," the Squib pressed on. "The death eaters had no idea what they were guarding so it's obvious that he didn't share these books with anyone else. The locking charms on the case itself only broke when he died."

"So, clearly important information stored within, do tell," the minister said moving him along.

"I don't think even he knew how important. He had them because they are one of a kind, old and because he knew their value. Only one of them is written in English and contains information on some extremely gruesome spells. Three of the others are written in Latin, one is in Egyptian hieroglyphs and one is in Cuneiform. But it's the final book that interests me…because it's encoded."

"Some kind of encryption?"

"A cypher. And unless you know the keyword, you can't read it," the Squib said.

"And how do you know he didn't crack the cypher?"

"Because, if he knew what was written inside, he probably would have done things very differently."

"Are you saying that you've cracked the cypher?" the defence minister asked, looking interested.

"With respect, sir, Lord Voldemort had a lot of tricks up his sleeve but a mutating algorithmic decryption program wasn't one of them. An old friend from MI5 told me about it. Cutting edge stuff," he said proudly.

"If he couldn't read it, why would he guard it so fiercely?"

"Because, it isn't a book at all. It's a journal and he only had to read the name on the front to get interested…Merlinis Ambrosius, or as we call him today; Merlin."

" _The_ Merlin?"

"The greatest wizard in history. And in his journal, he gives a very clear warning. Something's coming."

"What?"

"We've only deciphered part of the journal so far, but it talks about a prison that holds only one inmate, put there almost fourteen hundred years ago. Long before Hogwarts or the ministry existed. The thing inside it is more powerful than anything we've ever seen and he says it will escape because the cage that holds it has a flaw," he explained.

"What flaw?"

"It was built using experimental magic which was tied to a celestial alignment. When the stars align again, the cage will be weakened and what's inside will get out."

"When is this alignment supposed to occur?"

"Sir, you have to understand that when this journal was written, their knowledge of astrology wasn't nearly what we have today. Getting an accurate timeline is proving difficult…we've narrowed it down to a ten-year window," he sighed.

"A decade?! Which decade?"

"Somewhere between twenty-twenty-one and twenty-thirty-one. We are working on a more accurate prediction as we speak."

"I should bloody well hope so!"

"Sir, this is why I think my proposal should not be dismissed off hand. The wizarding world rarely, if ever, shares its information with ours and as we've observed this year, our people have no defence against them. Yes, Lord Voldemort is gone, but how long before the next threat shows up? Because there will always be a next one! There are more people like me out there than even they know. Men and woman that have been cast aside by the wizarding world because we were born different. But, we know their world. We know their magic and we can fight it."

"So, you want to recruit an army of squibs to combat this threat that Merlin says will show up in just over twenty-years' time?"

"And any other threat that comes from their world," the Squib said. "Yes, sir."

The defence minister was silent for a second, glancing around his office and playing with his glasses again. The he took a breath.

"Alright, I'll talk to the PM about it, but this would have to be strictly off the book and given how tight the budget is, I don't know where you'd get funding for it," he sighed.

"I've already got funding, sir."

"How, might I ask, have you managed that?"

"Well…it wasn't difficult to snag a thing or two after Lord Voldemort murdered everyone inside their bank," he shrugged.

The defence minister nodded and if to say 'fair enough'. "You better start looking for these other squibs."

The squib stood with a smile. "I know where a few are already, sir. I'll have an update for you shortly."

"Alright. Go through the usual channels," he dismissed and the Squib headed to the door. "oh, captain…exactly what does Merlin say is inside this cage?"

"The devil herself."

 **JANUARY 8** **th** **2026 – Hogwarts**

"Ahh, gonna be sore in the morning," Albus groaned as he started to get up. His back had taken the full brunt of the impact against the wall and was throbbing hard.

"It worked!" Dom yelled. "The shield's coming down!"

"Super," he mumbled.

Getting to him wouldn't be difficult now that the army of status had become lifeless again. They could either jump the gapping hole in front or just loop around using the other corridor. In their jubilation, they just decided to help each other leap over the hole until they were once again a group.

Scorpius was the first to reach Albus and he hugged him no matter how much he squirmed in pain. Rose, Dom and Melissa followed and even Anya couldn't help herself and gave him a squeeze to.

Everyone paused when Alex was standing in front of him. They all knew what had been happening between them. No one could really keep a secret when trapped in such close proximity and to see them now looking at each other caused a nervous silence to fall.

She broke it by moving forward and hugging him gently, receiving a few light-hearted cheers in the process. They held onto each other for a little longer than they needed to but nobody objected.

"You're a bloody genius!" The compliment came as quite a shock since Aiden had been the one to give it.

"When exactly did utter insanity become praise worthy amongst the youth of today?" A mumbled voice said.

They all turned to see where it had come from since it definitely wasn't any of theirs.

The portrait of the trolls in tutu's that had been blank only moments earlier was now filled with several finely painted old wizards, all of whom seemed to have shuffled in unceremoniously.

"It worked, didn't it?" Scorpius remarked.

"What?! You can see me?! Gunter! Ellis! Did you hear that, they can see me!" the old guy in the painting cheered.

"And hear you," Albus added.

"Where did you all go?" Rose asked.

"My dear, we've been screaming ourselves hoarse trying to get your attention since this mess began, but you couldn't see us!" the portrait explained.

"Suppressed, like the shield. One-way glass," Albus said.

"So, none of the portraits ever actually disappeared?" Anya asked.

"Only from your eyes," the picture responded.

"Good, I'd like to have a chat with the headmasters," Albus said before slouching off towards the office they'd called home for the last month.

"You're not going in unless you've got the password!"

They looked down to see the severed head of one of the gargoyles lying on the floor, looking up at them.

"I hate to break it to you mate but you're not outside the headmaster's office anymore," Scorpius said before grinning broadly at Albus. "Get it? _'Break'_ it to you."

"Oh, yeah, hilarious," the gargoyle spat sarcastically. "What jokes do you tell deaf people?!"

"Calm down. We'll call a…sculptor or something," Albus said walking past the talking piece of stone.

"Head's up," Scorpius said, accidently on purpose, kicking the head across the floor.

"Oh, you little toe-rag! I'll remember that!" the head growled.

"What?" Scorpius asked getting a nasty look from Rose. "They did just try to kill us!"

"They don't seem to remember doing that," Melissa said. "Or, they don't care."

"I care," Scorpius said.

Even though they were now free to leave, they all just followed Albus back to the headmaster's office. Through the broken windows they saw ministry personnel finally making it past where the barrier had been and charging into the school. They would be there soon and long, annoying explanations would have to follow.

Albus would definitely be omitting a few things, mainly about what he talked to Nemesis about and just about everything concerning Alex.

When they re-entered the office, they could hear the muffled conversations of the portraits coming from behind all the mattresses and sheets they'd hung up on the walls. With a quick flick of her wand, Alex sent all of the coverings shooting off before stacking themselves in a neat pile.

"Oh, about time!" Professor Black huffed.

The other headmasters and headmistresses had abandoned their usual positions in the portraits before the mattresses had been brought away and now quickly returned to their seats or in some cases, poses.

"Welcome back, everyone," Albus said, surveying the paintings.

"Back? We never left!" Phineas grumbled.

"Well, can't win em' all," Albus sighed.

"I beg your pardon?!" the portrait glared while Dumbledore and several others tried to hide their smiles.

"The threat is past then?" Professor Burke asked while she readjusted her Elizabethan garments. "We didn't know what was happening with those confounded linens obscuring us."

"From the school, yes. Gone for good, I don't know," Albus admitted.

"Ah, A Potter only doing half the work…where have I heard that before?" Snape's snide voice said.

 _CRACK!_

His portrait suddenly plummeted to the ground, bouncing off the stone floor.

"I'm so sorry, Professor!" Alex said rushing over to pick up the painting. "I might have been a bit overzealous when removing the mattresses." She sounded sincere but everyone knew she'd done that on purpose.

Dumbledore looked like he was struggling not to laugh. Alex then hung the portrait back on the wall, a little askew.

"So, you have no information to share? No idea where she came from or how she got here?" Albus asked.

"I'm afraid not, Lad," Professor Aargon said. "In all our combined years, we've never encountered such a thing."

"Shit!" Albus growled.

"Language young man!" Professor Creaseworthy said looking appalled.

"Well, I won't take up anymore of your time," Albus said, ignoring her.

"Albus, thank you," Dumbledore said. "I don't know how you did it, but Hogwarts would have surely fallen otherwise."

The adulation of victory and freedom came to an end inside Albus. He had to tell them.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news," he said. "The sword of Gryffindor and the sorting hat have been destroyed."

There were several gasps of horror from around the room and not all of them came from the portraits. Rose was utterly shocked, as were Dom and Melissa. They all knew full well that the hat had survived Voldemort's attempt to destroy it and that the sword had help bring his downfall. Both were now gone.

"Surely not?!" Creaseworthy cried.

"The last heirlooms of the founders…gone," Professor Dippet shuddered.

"Why would that monster do such a thing?!" Everard demanded, enraged.

Dumbledore remained silence, simply rubbing his eyes with his hand.

"To show her contempt for the school. Nemesis believed that the sorting process was partly responsible for how the wizarding world has turned out. It was a root cause of her desire to end it. She thought it promoted segregation and her main source of anger towards the wizarding world was the fact that it went into hiding, instead of uniting with the muggle world," he explained.

"The muggles would never accept us," Phineas snorted. "They hate our kind!"

"The muggles don't hate wizards, Professor…they just hate you," Albus smiled.

"Tell that to the witches that were hunted down like animals," he hissed back, not amused.

"The world has changed. Well, their world has," he said darkly, echoing Nemesis' words.

"But, how will there be sorting's from now out?" Rose asked.

"Maybe there shouldn't be." No one expected Snape to be the one to say that. But then, he had more right then most to say it.

"Rose, we don't even know if the school can recover from what she did to it," Alex said gravely.

"Well, they had to pretty much rebuild half of it after the war," Albus said. "I'll say this for the place; it's one tough old bastard."

"Language, Mr. Potter!" Creaseworthy cried again.

"Can you put the mattress back on her, please?" Albus asked Alex in exasperation.

"I think losing the hat and the sword is enough for one day," she said.

"I didn't think that sword could be destroyed. It was goblin forged," Aiden said.

"That's part of the reason she did it. Lesson number two; the wizarding world thinks it understands magic, but it doesn't…I've learned a lot from her…learned a lot from this school too. In fact, I think I've learned about everything I'm going to. Time I was on my way," he gave the portraits one last look. "Goodbye, Professors."

"Good luck, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore smiled fondly.

The door burst open.

First through the breach was Professor Torrens, followed by Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco, Ginny and two dozen others.

"Oh, thank God!" Torrens gasped when he saw them all alive.

What followed were an unending stream of hugs and cries of relief. All of which hurt, mainly because of how painful Albus's back was. Tears started to fall from many eyes followed by shock and disbelief as fragments of what had been happening inside the castle started to come out.

Then it was their turn to find out what had been going on outside the shield. The Thestrals had been found in Greenland, with Buckbeak and his family. Most of the house elves had slowly reappeared but in the south of France. The Owls were scattered all over the place but quite a few had been recovered. They had even seen a few of the ghosts, drifting through the corridors below just moments before arriving at the headmaster's office.

"We found the Centaurs on the Isle of Skye!" Teddy Lupin said with his arm still around Dom. "How the hell they got there; we don't know. I didn't think they could swim!"

"Probably stole some poor muggles boat to - HEY! Who's been in my bloody safe?!" Torrens sudden roared, seeing the open door.

"He did it," Albus and Scorpius said in unison while pointing at Aiden.

"What?! I…No, I didn't…He…" he spluttered under Torrens vicious glare.

"He drank all your whiskey too," Albus whispered to the irate headmaster then scurried out of the office as quickly as he could. He was followed quickly by Alex who had gone a bit a red.

None of the parents argued with their departure. They'd all had their fill of that school for quite some time. Soon they were on the grounds where it was still damn cold but the snow had stopped and the working atmospheric charms that they'd set up around the tent city kept them pretty warm.

All of the other students that had escaped during the first assault had been sent home and the place was filled to the brim with people, not just from the ministry but from other countries ministries as well. Harry and Hermione had called in help from all over Europe and even further. A dozen MACUSA aurors were out there along with people from the Chinese and Australian ministries.

Most of them were already getting to work on the school, assessing the damage and the condition of the greatly diminished enchantments. A large body of St. Mungo's healers were looking over the other escapee's inside a huge medical tent. There was so much work going on that nobody noticed Albus sneak back outside to look up at the ancient castle.

He wasn't looking at anything in particular, rather planning his next move. A few minutes later, Scorpius came and stood next to him.

"You're going after her, aren't you?" he asked.

"We got her out of the school, but I don't know where she's ended up. She could be back in the cage or she could be in some other part of the wizarding world, getting ready to wreak havoc," Albus said.

"And you're not gonna let it go until you know," Scorpius guessed.

Albus nodded.

"Were do we start?"

Albus looked at his best friend and saw that the 'we' part of that question was non-negotiable. He smiled.

"Ministry archives. We need to find that prison of hers. If that cage can hold her, even temporarily, we need to know about it."

"Can we get some real food first?" Scorpius asked.

"I thought that was a given," Albus shrugged.

"So, that's it?" They turned to see Alex standing behind them. She'd obviously been listening. "Out of the fire and back into the frying pan?"

"Well, I can't make an omelette in my bed," Albus said.

"So, we finally escape that place, escape her and now you just want to go straight back in for more?!" she just couldn't believe it.

"It has to be me."

"Why?!"

"Because I might be the only person on this planet that she won't kill. She could have, instead she saved my life, why?" Albus asked.

Alex rubbed her face in frustration. "What the hell am I gonna do with you?" she growled to herself more than anyone else.

"Tag along?"


	27. Forbidden Fruit

"Albus, I fully understand how you're feeling after what you went through," Hermione said looking slightly flustered. "But, are you sure you're not being a bit hasty?"

"I'm sure," he said.

Albus was just reading through the last few lines of the document that had to be filed when someone transferred or resigned from Hogwarts. There were little legal assurances in there like a promise from the ministry that all grades that they'd already achieved would be kept and that they weren't allowed to disqualify a person for a job simply because they had chosen not to finish their education.

He finished the document and signed off on it, actually feel quite pleased. Even though he was doing it in front of his parents, the minister and several department heads that had all gathered in Hermione's office, it didn't detract from the freeing sensation it brought on.

He handed the document back to Hermione who still looked troubled. She put such a high premium on education that she didn't want to see anyone give up on it, no matter what the circumstances. Then again, she almost suffered a breakdown in her third year from trying to take on half a dozen extra classes using a time-turner, so maybe she wasn't best person to trust in these matters.

"Done. Don't worry, Scorpius isn't resigning. Unlike me, he still stands a chance of passing his N.E.W.T.'s," he said.

"Good decision, Scorpius," Hermione nodded. "We're not sure when they'll be held but they will probably take place at the ministry."

"Any news about the school yet?" Scorpius asked.

"Many of the enchantments have been terribly weakened. Some have disappeared completely and then there is the structural damage…I doubt the school will reopen for a while, hopefully before the term starts in September."

"What are you going to do about sorting?"

"Well…we had an idea about that. It's a bit unorthodox but, given what's happened…we thought about possibly using the Goblet of Fire," she said.

"The Goblet's only supposed to pick three students from three school, not sort dozens of people into for houses," Albus reminded.

"Obviously we'd have to alter the enchantments but…"

"I still can't believe the hats gone," Harry mumbled.

"I still can't believe she melted the sword," Ron added dismally.

"Like it was made of marshmallows," Albus nodded.

"I really liked that sword," Ron grumbled.

"We're already getting an outpouring from other magically communities offering help," Hermione continued.

"I killed a Horcrux with that sword," Ron said, apparently to himself.

"Some of the other schools have already offered to take students from Hogwarts," Hermione said, ignoring him.

"So, did Dumbledore, and Neville…"

"This is a very difficult time, but I'm confident that we will get through it," she said starting to get annoyed.

"Harry killed a basilisk with that sword…"

"We're all upset about the sword, Ronald, but you are not helping!" she snapped.

"Yes, if we could get back to your statements," said a man named Groogins. He was the head of the department of mysteries and seemed very interested in what had happened inside the castle, especially Nemesis.

Rose, Aiden, Dom and Melissa had all been sent home to get some much-needed rest and a decent meal. Anya had been taken to St. Mungo's for some tests to make sure everything was alright with the baby. Only Albus and Scorpius had offered to give their statements immediately and Alex had decided to accept Albus' offer and 'tag along'.

Groogins looked down at the notes he'd been scribbling out on a piece of parchment. "You were wounded just after the staircases attacked you," he said.

"Which still needs to be checked," Ginny reminded. "As soon as this is done, you're going to St. Mungo's."

"I'm fine," Albus brushed off.

"I'll let the healers tell me that," she said making it clear that the discussion was over.

The door to the office opened and Hermione's assistant, Gerty the house-elf came scurrying in carrying a pizza box.

"Oh, Gerty, you're a star," Albus said taking the box off her and laying on the table between him and Scorpius.

"Albus!" Hermione shrieked in indignation. "You do not order my assistant, a ministry employee, to get you pizza!"

"She volunteered, didn't you, Gerty?" Albus said while grabbing a slice and taking a bite. Scorpius helped himself as well while Ron looked longingly at the food while licking his lips.

"Master Potter looked terribly famished," the house-elf nodded nervously.

" _Mister_ Potter, Gerty, not master. We've talked about this," she said patiently.

"Yes, ministress," Gerty said, looking ashamed.

"You can go home for the day, Gerty, thank you," she smiled.

"But, is ministress sure that –"

"Quite sure, thank you," Hermione snipped quickly.

Groogins cleared his throat trying to get everyone's attention back on topic.

"So, after you recovered, you went to see her again and she confessed to being immortal?" he asked before anyone else could interrupt.

"Mmh-hmm," he nodded with a mouthful of pizza. "That was something she was dying to talk about – no pun intended."

"Why?"

"Because, before she was imprisoned by her own family, finding the source was the worst thing that ever happened to her. In fact, it wasn't just the disappointment she suffered but it was directly responsible for the way they treated her," he explained.

"And we know how that sort of thing turns out," Ginny said. "Just look what happened with Barty Crouch."

"Yeah, it really isn't the most therapeutic way to deal with family issues," Albus agreed.

"But, she didn't give any indication of how she found the source or where it was?" Groogins asked.

Albus had expected this line of questioning and he didn't like it. Groogins, a short balding man, had a hungry look in his eyes that had nothing to do with the pizza.

"Not a thing," Albus said. "And truthfully, I wouldn't tell you even if she did."

"What?!"

"People aren't meant to have that kind of power."

"You're hardly qualified to decide that," he snorted.

"Neither are you."

"But, you're happy to let a psychopath like her have it?"

"She's not a psychopath! How many times are you people going to make this mistake?!" Albus snapped.

"Well, that's what the public is going to think when they find out," Groogins said.

"Wait – They don't know?" Alex asked looking surprised.

"The entire wizarding world knows something major happened at Hogwarts but no one knows about Nemesis," Harry said.

"I suggest you keep it that way," Scorpius said.

"And how are we supposed to do that?"

"I don't know, make something up," he said. "Nemesis isn't exactly fond of the wizarding world as it is. You start letting the Daily Prophet spout off rumours about her and it'll really piss her off."

"Not to mention that you'll have every nut job in the wizarding world coming out of the woodwork and claiming to be Nemesis," Albus added. "And the ones that don't will go on some wild Niffler chase trying to find either her or the source."

"The source of magic has been oldest and most sort after answer in the history of the wizarding world and now new evidence has come to light, you expect us to just ignore it?!" Groggins looked outraged.

"Leave it alone," Albus warned.

"How dare you try and – "

"Enough!" Ginny shouted, getting everyone's attention. "We're all exhausted. Let's take a break, get some coffee or something and come back to it."

No one argued with her, even though she wasn't technically a member of the ministry. She worked for the Prophet and even then, only for the sports pages.

"She's right," Hermione said. "Let's all meet back here in fifteen minutes. Alex, I know the Swedish ministry is eager for you to go back and speak to them. You're under no obligation to stay here."

"The ministry can wait, it's my mother that is bouncing off the walls," Alex smiled. "I'm happy to come back in a day or two and finish up."

"You're always welcome here," Hermione smiled warmly.

Albus had expected her leave sooner rather than later. She'd followed them to the ministry to make sure he and Scorp didn't get into trouble and to give her statement of the events inside the castle. But, since Hogwarts was unlikely to open again until September, her cousin would be returning to teach and therefore, she was no longer needed as an employee. She also wasn't a British citizen and therefore, Hermione couldn't order her to stay even if she wanted to.

Everyone in the room got up and started to leave. Albus gave Scorpius a knowing look which meant 'hang back'. He wanted to speak to Alex alone and followed her out. Albus stayed quiet until they were away from everyone else and heading down the corridor towards the lifts.

"What are you going to tell them?"

"I can't lie to them, Albus. It would be perjury. But, if you're worried about what I'll say, well, I don't actually know anything about the source, other than Nemesis found it."

"It doesn't matter. Just one whiff of it and the public will go crazy," he said gravely. "When they find out what it does – "

"Turn you into an unkillable entity that can eat magic?"

"Yeah. Imagine how many dark wizards and witches would go on a murder spree if it meant getting there."

"Well, no matter what else you two talked about, she never mentioned where it is or how to get there."

"I know. After what it did to her…I'm starting to think that the source is like the forbidden fruit."

"You mean the temptation will destroy people?"

"Dumbledore died because he couldn't resist the lure of the Deathly Hallows. I may be named after him but I'm planning on following suit," he said. "And I'd like to make sure nobody else gets the chance."

"But, none of us know where it is," she reminded.

"Just confirming its existence is bad enough," he sighed. "Just, promise that you'll try to discourage them from looking for it?"

"You know I will. One Nemesis is one too many."

They reached the lifts and Alex pushed the call button. Albus took a deep breath. He couldn't help feeling like he was saying goodbye to her forever.

"So…if you are coming back…we might bump into each other," he said, trying to sound casual.

"I expect so. Why?"

"Thought I'd see if you wanna grab lunch or something," he shrugged.

She paused and looked at him carefully. "Lunch?"

"Yeah, it's when two people sit down and eat together – "

"Smart ass," she snorted but continued to eye him. The same thoughts were going through both their minds. He was no longer a student and she was no longer a teacher and both were adults so…

"Where?"

"Huh?"

"Where would you take me?"

"Burger King."

"Urgh!" she rolled her eyes and turned away but Albus just laughed.

"The London Sea Life Aquarium," he said quickly causing her to look at him again.

"Is there a restaurant there?"

"Not unless you're willing to dive in the shark tank, but there's a great place across the road from it. Nice view of Big Ben."

"Really?"

"Trust me. London is my city," he said proudly.

She stayed silent for a second as the chime of the lift arrive sounded out. Behind her the metal grated doors opened and the empty lift waited. She ignored it though and continued to look at him with a slightly daring glint in her eyes.

"It's a date," she said simply before stepping into the lift.

"I look forward to it," he smiled.

She gave him a tiny grin as the doors closed and the lift began to move.

Albus was practically glowing as he headed back to Hermione's office. A date! And actual date with Alex! He couldn't believe it.

A smile grew on Scorpius face when he saw Albus. He best friend knew straight away that things had gone well between them.

"It's so hard to say goodbye isn't it," he smirked.

"We didn't say goodbye."

"I can see that."

"I still can't believe the sword is gone," Ron moaned as he came back into the office with Hermione, Harry and Ginny.

"Oh, for goodness sake, Ron!" Hermione huffed.

"What?! It's a right bludger to the balls! And after all the extra protection we gave the castle," he groaned.

"Yes, well, if we knew something like this was going to happen, we wouldn't have bothered connecting the ministry to Hogwarts in the first place," Hermione said.

The joy he'd been feeling a moment ago vanished in a heartbeat as was replace by cold fear.

"What did you say?!"

"We added extra security to – "

"You connected the ministry to Hogwarts?!"

"Yeah. So, we would know the second the castle came under attack. How do you think we got there so quickly?" Harry confirmed, looking confused.

"That's how she got in!" Albus blurted to Scorpius who was looking equally terrified.

"But, if she came from the ministry then – "

The door suddenly slammed shut without anyone touching it and vengeful voice filled the air, reverberating through the walls.

"You didn't think it would be _that_ easy did you, Albus?!"

Nemesis was back!


	28. The Cage

"Nemesis?!"

"Did you miss me?" she growled.

"Let them go, this is between us!" Albus yelled.

"I wanted it to be between us, Albus, I really did. But, you just kept inviting her!"

His heart seized up.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to cancel your date…Alex is going to be unavailable for…ever."

Cold horror filled his body. He had last seen Alex entering the lift but if Nemesis had control over the ministry, then she had control of the lifts too.

"Don't worry. I promise I'll let you keep her head!"

"Blast the door!" He yelled at Scorpius who raised his wand.

"Bombarda Maxima!"

The door to Hermione's office was blown to pieces sending wood flying into the corridor. Albus immediately took off but only made it a few feet before the entire ministry began to quake.

Nemesis was sending earthquakes through the building just as she had done at Hogwarts. The violent shaking almost knocked all of them off their feet and screams of other people in the ministry were heard from down the hall. People came running out of offices and into the corridors, panicked and falling from the rumbling. The tiles on the walls broke apart as the walls began to crack.

Albus raced passed the people to the lifts. He saw the counter at the top indicating the floor that it was currently on. Alex lift hadn't taken her to the atrium as it was supposed to. Instead, it had gone down, straight to the bottom.

The Department of Mysteries.

There were staircases that the workers could use if the lifts were too full but only one that led all the way to the bottom and it could only be accessed through the Atrium. He tore off down the corridor until he reached the staircase where frightened ministry staff were rushing out, trying to get to the nearest floo point to escape.

"Everyone, stay calm and evacuate the ministry!" Hermione kept shouting but it didn't seem like anyone was listening. She, Harry, Ron and Ginny were following Albus but couldn't quite keep up with him.

He rushed down the stairs knocking people out of the way as they were all running in the opposite direction. The great tremors continued causing panicked workers to lose their footing on the stairs and go tumbling back down. Harry and Ron were trying to help them up but at the same time still trailing after Albus.

After traversing several flights, Albus found himself in the Atrium. It was complete chaos.

People were running and screaming in every direction. The water from the fountain of magical brethren was sloshing all over the place from the quakes and floo points weren't working. A great shudder went through the Atrium causing all of the office windows to explode, showing all of the people with glass. At the same time a huge crack broke open the entire wall from the floor to the ceiling.

"She's gonna rip the ministry in half!" Scorpius yelled.

A horrible screeching sound bellowed out and the six of them look in horror as the head of wizard's statue on the fountain turned at looked straight at them. The golden centaur, house-elf and goblin statues leaped off the fountain and began charging at people indiscriminately, smashing them out of the way like ragdolls. The wizard statue, the largest of them, broke off it's foundations and started marching towards Albus, it's huge feet breaking the floor as it went.

"Ahh, not this again!" Scorpius yelped and aimed his wand at the approaching statue. He fired off a redactor curse but the purple light just bounced straight off it.

The statue raised its enormous arm and brought it down trying to crush all six of them at the same time. The all leapt sideways as it slammed into the ground, destroying the floor they had just been standing on. Albus only just had time to get to his feet before he had to roll right in order to avoid the oncoming charge of the golden centaur. The wizarding statue took another swipe at them but missed again. This time Hermione was ready.

Yellow light shot from the tip of her wand and struck the floor right where the statues feet were. The ground suddenly became pliable, like marble coloured glue. The statue began to sink into the ground as if caught in a camouflaged tar pit.

Albus saw his opening and darted towards the stairs that led to the department of mysteries. In his peripheral, he saw more bursts of yellow light as his aunt tried to take down the other statues.

None of them had any idea but at the same time directly above them on the surface, an extremely drunk Londoner was stumbling around and muttering to himself. His dazed eyes looked to the left just in time to see a red telephone box rocking from side-to-side before being sucked into the ground and disappearing. He found the whole thing hilarious.

That same red phone box that usually served as the visitor's entrance came crashing through the ceiling and broke apart on the Atrium floor. The ministry continued to shake and groan as if she were twisting the very foundations. The stairs cracked and buckled but he didn't fall. Between Hogwarts and its moving staircases, he was used to her trying to make things unstable. He reached the lowest levels of the ministry and rushed down a long, narrow corridor that led to a door that marked the department of mysteries. Scorpius, out of breath, came up behind him. They only hesitated for a second, not knowing what they'd find inside.

Both of them had heard plenty of stories about that place, but neither of them had ever been in there. The pushed forwards, going through the door that was auspiciously unlocked. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny hadn't caught up to them yet but they could hear voices behind them.

Albus and Scorpius found themselves in a large circular room with many black, handless doors on all sides. Only one of the doors mattered. The one that seemed to have flashing blue light emanating from the tiny gap between the door and the frame, almost as if a lightning storm was happening just behind it.

Not knowing why but sure of it nevertheless, he immediately charged towards the door that was emanating light. He and Scorpius pushed it open and an intense scream hit their ears. All around them, blue light was exploding except it wasn't from lightning strikes. It was coming from an ancient stone archway in the centre of the room. And the second he saw it, Albus knew he had found Nemesis' cage.

The Veil! The same one that had swallowed Sirius Black decades before. Some said it was a doorway to another place that existed beyond the world of the living and that's why nothing living could return from it. But Nemesis was immortal and she had found a way back.

The great shots of blue lightning that forked out across the amphitheatre were striking the walls but not leaving any damage. One stream of lightning was constant those, coming out of the centre of the veil and, to Albus horror, that's where the screaming was coming from too.

The single line of lightning was wrapped around Alex's ankle and was pulling her towards the veil. She was resisting only by the line of energy coming from the tip of her wand. It was the same magical lasso that she'd used in Hogwarts and it was wrapped around on of the stone outcropping. The lightning was tugging her so hard that both her energy line and the lightning were taught as piano wire causing Alex to be suspended in mid-air, only feet from death.

"My God, she came out of the veil?!" Scorpius gasped as they witnessed what was happening in front of them.

Then, as if she'd heard him, the lightning that was erupting so violently, redirected inwards and actually began to form a colossal face that immerged from the threshold. The stone archway began to glow as strange glyphs or runes began to appear, burned into the rock itself. They were unlike any language Albus had ever seen.

The face formed in front of them but it wasn't made of the inhumanly beautiful features that Nemesis had presented before. It was hideous and deformed and roaring in rage.

"ALBUS!" Alex screamed.

Her grip on her wand was failing.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny all charged into the room behind them, eyes wide with shock and horror as they witnessed Nemesis.

"Throw me!" Albus commanded.

"What?!"

"Throw me at her!"

Scorpius didn't hesitate. He aimed his wand at Albus' back and with a sharp jerk, he was flung through the air as if strapped to an invisible rocket. He collided with Alex, breaking both the hold of lightning and her lasso. With his arms wrapped around her, they plummeted back to the ground and impacted with a horrible thud.

The room shook as Nemesis let out a violent roar of anger that sounded more animal than human.

"PATRONUS!" Albus screamed at the others.

"EXPECTO PATRONUS!" Five voices cried at the same time.

Spectral animals formed in the air and a moment later, a huskie, a stag, a horse, a terrier and an otter made of magic launched themselves at the monstrous face of Nemesis. They impacted, exploding into blue vapour on contact but the hits had an effect.

Nemesis roared again but seemed to be faltering. Her lightning made face looked as if it were being pulled back through the veil.

"AGAIN!" Harry yelled.

"EXPECTO PATRONUS!"

A second wave of phantom animals flew out and blasted against Nemesis in another suicidal charge. But again, she was reeling, now fighting harder than ever before not to be sucked back into the veil.

"EXPECTO PATRONUS!"

A third volley finally did it. They slammed into her face sending her back beyond the black curtain that seemed to be the veils surface. The lightning died out and the glyphs that had been glowing in the rock just moments before faded away, as if they had never been there.

The shaking across the ministry subsided and the room grew quiet.

"Alex! Alex!" Albus said fanatically.

She was out cold, still lying in his arms. She seemed to hear his voice because she began to stir and then suddenly bolted up, fighting for her life and even trying to attack him.

"Alex, it's me! It's me!"

She managed to calm down long enough to realize he wasn't going to hurt her but was still looking around with wide frightened eyes and breathing hard.

"Are you alright?" he breathed as the others rushed over to them.

"What – I…Albus?" she was in shock and could barely string words together.

"It's okay, you're safe," he said.

"What happened?!" she gasped.

"Nemesis."

"But – how?!"

"She came out of the damn veil!" Scorpius said, still in disbelief.

"It can't be! I thought nothing –"

"We all just saw it, Hermione," Ginny said, still out of breath.

"The veil _is_ her cage. There's no prison on Earth that could hold her, so they sent her to one that _isn't_ on Earth," Albus said, also breathing hard.

"What…what's on the other side of that thing?" Alex asked, visibly shaking.

"No one knows. Some people believe it's a doorway to the next world," Scorpius said.

"The muggles call it Purgatory," Albus nodded.

Harry approached the archway that was once again and ominous and silent as it had been before. He had a look of true anger on his face. That thing, whatever it was, had taken his godfather and now it had been Nemesis' way back into the world.

"I want this thing destroyed, right now!" he hissed.

"Harry…Harry, we can't –" Hermione said sympathetically.

"I don't want to hear any crap about it being an important historical artifact, Hermione! Destroy it!"

"Harry, we don't know who created this thing or how! It was here long before the ministry and if it is some kind of doorway, we have no idea what destroying it could do!" Hermione said forcefully.

"She's right," Albus conceded. "You try to destroy this thing and it could become unstable."

"Elemental conflict," Scorpius nodded.

"You could turn it into some kind of magical A-bomb, you wanna take out half of London?" Albus asked, making sure he got the point.

"Fine," Harry folded.

"You might want to get some people looking into those glyphs that were on the sides of it," Albus said. "I didn't recognize the language."

"Nor did I," Hermione said. "Those have never shown up before. They must be some kind of binding spell."

"You can discuss it later," Ginny said stepping in. "You two need to get to St. Mungo's and you need to secure the ministry," she ordered Albus and Alex and then her husband.

"I'm fine," Alex said looking very dazed.

"We –"

"Albus! If I have to knock you out and drag you there myself, I'll do it!" Ginny warned.

"Alright, alright, you win," he said. The look his mother was giving him was one he'd seen before and knew not to argue with.

He groaned and he got up and then helped Alex stand. She looked like she had just done a night of extremely heavy drinking because she could barely stand. Holding on for that long against Nemesis had taken a toll on her.

"Scorp, you mind giving us a hand?" Albus asked.

"Yeah, I got her," he said, slinging Alex arm over his shoulder so she could put her weight on him.

The three of them, under Ginny's supervision, left the department of mysteries and headed back up to the Atrium. There was a lot of damage control going on in there with dozens and dozens of wounded people being treated while other were going to work on the structure damage, trying to seal the huge cracks with their wands. The gold statues that had once adorned the fountain in the centre were still sticking out of the ground at odd angles, with only the left ear of the house elf visible.

A group of wizards and witches were working spells to try and reactivate the floo network while others rushed off to different floors to help others.

"Wait, wait, I need to sit down for a second," Alex admitted. She looked completely fatigued from climbing the broken stairs back to the Atrium.

Scorpius and Albus led her over to a secluded part of the room, away from everyone else and sat her down on a ledge near a corridor that led to some of the offices.

"You two stay, I'm going to see if they've got the fireplaces working yet," Ginny ordered before walking away.

Scorpius stood there for a second before seeming to realize that he was a third wheel.

"I'm just gonna…see if…anyone needs help," he said awkwardly before walking away quickly.

"He really needs to work on his subtlety," Alex remarked with a smile.

"He'll learn," Albus grinned. "You sure you're okay?"

"I feel like I just did the Triwizard tournament…three times in a row," she sighed.

"Yeah, these last few days have been a little rough," he said casually.

They both laughed.

"You saved me," she said looking him in the eye.

"Guess we're even," he shrugged.

"No…" she breath. "We're equal."

And before he could do anything, she leaned in and kissed him. His mind froze and he simply couldn't think. Well, except for how incredible her lips were. How warm and soft and –

 _Equal._

Albus' eyes shot open and pulled back from her.

The fear that gripped his insides was so strong, so consuming that he felt as if he were going to collapse on the spot. His own senses were betraying him. His own feelings were betraying him. Everything inside him was begging for it not to be true.

But his mind and the sadistic smile that crept up on Alex's face knew that it was.

"No!"

"I was wondering how long it would take you," she said.

"Let her go!"

"Why would I do that?" she smiled.

Albus' flight or flight response kicked in and he tried to run but with a flick of her fingers an invisible force lifted him off the ground and slammed him against the wall, pinning him there.

Alex stood up and stretched like cat awaking from a long sleep. Except it wasn't Alex. It was Nemesis.

"Ah, you are very sharp, Albus, but you're still young and you still miss things," she grinned knowing that where they were, no one could see them. "For instance, when the shield came down, everyone except the most powerful and talent young witches managed to escape…bit of a coincidence, don't you think?"

"You staged it all!"

"Rose, Dom, Melissa, they weren't difficult to trap inside and I knew Scorpius would never leave you in there and I knew Alex wouldn't allow him to run back in alone."

"You were learning about them," Albus said through gritted teeth.

"More like an audition. Which one of them was going to be the lucky girl?"

The revelations were so much worse because he had fail to spot them. Fail to realize just how well-planned Nemesis attack on Hogwarts really was.

"I originally had my eye on Dominique. Smart, beautiful and she's got the sexy girlfriend, I could have had a lot of fun there, but no, in the end, Alex was the clear winner," she was truly enjoying this. "I mean, just look at her," she started running her hands all over herself. "She's so…firm."

Albus cringed and tried to fight against the force that was holding him but it wouldn't budge. The giant demonic face that had been coming out of the veil was an illusion. She had shown them exactly what they wanted to see. The heroes defeating the evil monster when really, the monster had slipped passed them.

"Oh, don't worry, Albus, she safe and sound. It wouldn't make any sense for me to kill her," she admitted.

"No?"

"Of course not. You can't possess a corpse after all," Nemesis smiled through Alex's features. "You came very close to spoiling my plans, Albus. Closer than I thought anyone could come. All of this was supposed to happen in Hogwarts, but, what can I say, I'm adaptable."

"So am I," he growled.

"I know and I love it. I can already see the wheels turning behind your eyes. You want to save her so badly, don't you?" she said coming close enough that she only had to whisper.

"Who are you?!"

"Ahh, that's the other thing you really want, isn't it? You can't stand not knowing. Well, you're a smart guy, Albus. You'll figure it out."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out Alex's wand. "Here," she said tucking into his jacket. "Little keepsake. It's not like I need it."

"You know I'll come after you!" he promised.

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't. Don't worry, Albus, I still have many things to teach you. But, first, there is a big, wide world out there and I haven't seen it in a long time. I won't forget about you though and I bet you won't forget about me."

She leaned in a kissed him gently on the cheek before backing away.

"Until that day, Albus."

A with a low crack she was gone. The force pinning him to the wall vanished and he collapsed onto the floor. That's where she left him. Sprawled out on the ground with nothing but the soul breaking reality that no only had he failed to spot Nemesis but he'd failed to save the woman he was in love with as well.

 **BLACK SITE, ISLE OF DOGS – London**

The Squib, now in his early sixties looked over the report that had just been handed to him. He was sitting behind his desk in the state-of-art facility, hidden inside London's financial district with computer screens and televisions all around him.

"How old is this?" he asked.

"Less than an hour," Chaplin, a fellow squib answered. "The ministry is in full damage control mode at the moment. And he'd screaming to anyone that will listen that Alexandria Bonde is now possessed by the same entity that attacked Hogwarts."

"She found herself a vessel. And now she's not bound to a single location, she can go anywhere she wants."

"It would seem so. She's already disappeared," Chaplin nodded.

"We need to find her. Put all our stations on alert," the Squib ordered. "And put a full surveillance package on Albus Potter."

"Why them?"

"She saved him…I think she likes him. And if that's true, we may have just found something that can be used against her."

Chaplin nodded and left the office through the sliding glass door.

The Squib leaned back on his chair and sighed. In some ways it was almost a relief.

The war he'd been waiting over twenty years for was finally here and Albus Potter was going to be right at the centre of it.

TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
